Will's Adventure in New Vestroia
by Nietche
Summary: There were many things I personally found wrong with Bakugan: New Vestroia, therefore I have rewritten episode one and hope to rewrite the entire season. I am new on this site and would really appreciate feedback if you can. I do not own Bakugan: New Vestroia or the video game.
1. Chapter 1

There were many things I personally found wrong with Bakugan: New Vestroia, therefore I have rewritten episode one and hope to rewrite the entire season. Please review and give me suggestions as to what you would like to see. Also, there is a Shun/Dan pairing, and there will be only one OC until after Beta City goes down. I do not own Bakugan: New Vestroia or the video game.

"I left a message for Shun," Dan began. "But he hasn't returned my call, he never does. Is that a ninja thing, or what?"

"You probably lost your cool and annoyed him again," Runo teased.

"I never lose my cool!" Dan shouted.

They had been walking through the park with Julie and Marucho hiding in the bushes spying on them.

"Are they pretending to hate each other again?" Julie asked Marucho. She then pretended to be them when a guy wearing jeans, a purple polo shirt, and a belt walked up behind them.

"What's up guys?" He asked as if they weren't obviously spying on Dan and Runo.

"Gah!" They jumped out of their hiding spot and caught their breath for a moment.

"Don't do that," Julie whined, still catching her breath.

"I agree with Julie," Marucho panted. "Just because you're an honorary brawler doesn't mean you can sneak up on us like that."

He brushed his brown hair over to the side, as he always did. He noticed that he had grown an inch taller than Julie was. Just then, a lightning bolt cascaded down and struck right next to Dan and Runo, opening a portal that looked suspiciously like the one in Dr. Michael's lab, after knocking them over.

They heard a voice that sounded exactly like Drago's had, "Sure it can, Dan. Everything is possible."

A pyrus bakugan rolled onto the bench, laughing. A darkus bakugan leaped out of the new guy's pocket and opening on his shoulder. A deep, gruff voice eminated from the darkus bakugan.

"Could it be?" The bakugan spoke. It turned to face his partner. "Let's check it out, Will."

"Let's do it Leo," Will spoke. They rushed over with Julie and Marucho to see what was happening as Dan held the pyrus bakugan in his hands.

"Is it true?" Marucho asked. "I can't believe it! Drago's really back!"

"He is," Dan exclaimed. "Take a look!"

"It's good to see you, brawlers," Drago spoke. "All of you."

Will smiled at the recognition from Drago while Julie celebrated. The three without bakugan began asking about their bakugan coming home. _Drago one-upped my entrance_. Will realized as Drago received all the attention, Leonidas receiving none.

"I'm sorry," Drago apologized. "But I'm not here for a visit. I'm here to ask for your help."

"What's happened?" Dan asked.

"New Vestroia has been invaded. Most of the bakugan have been captured, and enslaved."

Everyone gasped as Leonidas yelled, "I will crush the oppressors of our people, Drago. That's a promise."

"That's why I came to you," Drago commented. "Dan, I can't save them alone."

"Drago?" Dan asked.

"Will you help me Dan?" Drago asked enthusiastically.

"Hello," Dan replied. "You bet I will! We'll make those spaced-invaders wish they'd never heard of Dan and Drago."

"And Runo!"

"And Julie!"

"Yes, we're all here to help, Drago."

"Don't forget us!" Will chimed in, rolling his shoulder where Leonidas was resting.

"Thank you," Drago said. "The first thing you three can do to help, is to turn around."

Julie, Runo, and Marucho turned around as Drago hopped onto Dan's shoulder.

"Dan, Will, I can't take the others," Drago explained. "It's got to be us four alone. I'm sorry, we have to-"

"Drago," Will interupted. "Why can't we take them?"

"It'll be too dangerous," Drago stated. "New Vestroia is unlike anything they've ever seen."

"To be fair," Leonidas countered. "Neither was the Doom Dimension."

"He's got a point, Drago," Dan agreed. "They can handle themselves until they find Tigrerra, Preyas, and Gorem."

"They've been taken too," Drago angrily replied. "It's not safe."

"Neither was going to Vestroia the first time," Will countered. "We can free the bakugan and they can still brawl at our side, with temporary bakugan until we free Gorem, Tigrerra, and Preyas."

"Fine, we'll bring them along."

Will sighed in relief just before the portal sucked the two brawlers and their bakugan into the portal.

"Now we're not arguing about it," Drago stated regretfully.

"Did you do that?" Leonidas accused angrily.

"NO! The portal was collapsing in on itself and took us in."

"Lousy excuse."

When their journey through the portal ended, the humans and Leonidas looked around. Dan was the first to speak.

"So this is New Vestroia?"

"Wasn't it greener?" Will interjected, brown eyes curiously surveying the equally brown spires and hard dirt.

"What happened?" Leonidas questioned.

"It was a paradise before..." Drago paused. "Before they came."

"Sorry, Drago," Dan apologized. "You must have felt pretty helpless having to watch this all happen."

Drago explained how the Vestals invaded and set up devices that turned all bakugan into balls and captured them.

"How dare they come to this world and enslave so many who had worked so hard for their freedom!" Leonidas exclaimed.

"Who do they think they are?" Dan questioned angrily. "If they think they can just waltz in here and take over the bakugan, then they'll have to answer to me!"

"Us!" Will interjected.

A high pitched voice called from the right. "What're you going to do about it?" They looked over and saw two men, one was skinny and dressed in various shades of green with pink hair. While the other was ripped to the bone and dressed in yellow and white with spiky red hair. Both had blue eyes and a bad fashion sense. Greeny was leaning on the rocks, while spiky was standing with one foot on a rock, trying way too hard to look intimidating.

"Just who we were looking for!" Dan shouted.

Spiky replied, with a surprisingly baritone voice, "Go home to your toys, children."

"You better go back to where you came from!" Dan yelled.

Greeny looked slightly confused, "Surrender, to you?" He burst out laughing. "This I gotta see"

"Pretty big talk for a little kid," Spiky commented. "Come on, show me what you got."

"I'll send you home crying to your mommies!" Dan was getting angrier now.

"Dan," Will whispered urgently. "I hear an engine."

"What kind?" Dan whispered, clearly still pissed off.

"Motorcycle maybe, but it's moving towards us, fast."

"What do you think Volt?" Greeny interrupted their train of thought.

"Should we teach these little squirts a lesson? It should be easy, they don't have gauntlets."

"What're gauntlets?" Dan asked. Will facepalmed and started to define the word gauntlet, but was frantically waved off and interrupted. "Bahh, who needs 'em? All I need is Drago." Dan held Drago confidently out in front of him.

Greeny burst out laughing and exclaimed, "Too funny!"

A yellow motorcycle flew over the rock and nearly flattened Dan and Will as Dan fell out of the way and Will jumped backwards, landing on his feet next to Dan.

"Not her again," Greeny sighed with exasperation.

The driver got out of her seat and put an object on her forearm, which made the satisfying click of a magnet attaching to steel. The object was rectangular, with a triangular end and an end with a handle. It was white and had brown outlining.

"I don't know who you are or where you came from, but you'll need a gauntlet to brawl in New Vestroia," The redheaded driver stated. _So that's a gauntlet_. Will realized.

"I don't take orders from Vestals." Dan exclaimed.

"Dude, chill," Will tried to calm Dan. "She just stated facts, don't snap at her."

"I lead the Bakugan Brawler Resistance." She smiled at Dan's ignorance. "My name is Mira."

"Nice to meet you Mira." Will greeted and bowed his head a little. She tossed them a pair of gauntlets that looked almost exactly like hers, white and slightly triangular. However, unlike hers, one had red lining, and the other with purple. Dan fumbled with the red, while Will caught the purple one in both hands.

"First," Mira chuckled at Dan and walked forward. "Let's see if you can keep up with the Vexos."

"Those guys?" Will questioned. Mira nodded. "One's trying too hard to be intimidating, while the other is failing to unnerve us by laughing at us."

"They're Vestal's top brawlers," Mira acknowledged. "The big one without brains is Volt, and the baby who thinks he's cool is Lync."

"Hey," Lync interjected. "Watch your mouth."

"Like he said," Volt agreed.

"So tell me Humans," Mira got right in their faces, her head angled slightly down. "Are you chickens, or brawlers?"

"I'm no Chicken!" Dan exclaimed.

"It's odd that you know human idioms," Will commented. "But no, I'm not a chicken."

"C'mon, let me at those creeps," Dan angrily stated. "I'll show them!"

Dan placed his gauntlet onto his forearm. Will did likewise before adding, "We'll take 'em together, Dan!"

Link and Volt jumped down from their perch onto the ground. "Finally," Lync commented. "The talking stops." Link put his gauntlet on. "We accept your challenge."

"It's almost to easy," Volt taunted. "To be fun."

"Want fun?" Mira replied angrily and pushed a button on her gauntlet as Dan screamed a little. _Gauntlet: Activated_ , Spoke the gauntlet. Mira and the two Vexos put strange looking cards into their gauntlet's slot and yelled, "Gauntlet, power strike!"

Dan and Will stared at their gauntlets, trying to figure them out. Will pressed the large purple button and the gauntlet spoke, _Gauntlet: Activated_. He put his card in and saw it glow as Dan yelled, "Yeah, I rock!" Will saw that Dan's was glowing red.

Mira's face was disappointed as she looked at Dan. Will walked over next to Dan and whispered, "Dude, you're making yourself look like an idiot, play it cool."

"Right," Dan confirmed. "I got this one."

"I'll cheer you on." Will gave him a thumbs-up. Leonidas growled on his shoulder, mumbling something about never getting the good battles.

"I'll start this, kiddies," Lync yelled. "Gate card, set!" The card flew from Link's hand onto the ground, landing in the center and spreading out to about the size of a football field. "Bakugan Brawl. Bakugan stand, Ventus Flybeetle!"

The green bakugan rose, a beetle with wings and a proscubosis with many sharp parts. Volt was next, rolling out a Haos Furious. This one was a monkey with a staff. Both Bakugan had power levels of 350.

"What're you waiting for," Volt taunted. "Christmas?"

"Again with the idioms!" Will commented.

"I'll take the lead," Mira ordered. "You follow." _Dan's not going to like that_ , Will mused.

"Bakugan Brawl!" Dan yelled, throwing Drago onto the card. Drago stood in a flaming tornado, instantly turning Furious back into ball form.

"Wha-What is that?" Volt asked.

"Flybeetle," Lync yelled. "Look out!"

"Got 'em now!" Dan yelled. _Ability card: set._ The gauntlet announced. "Ability Activate!"

"Burning Dragon!" Drago yelled. His flaming form chased the Flybeetle until slamming into it, transforming it back into ball form as well.

Will smiled at the disbelief of almost everyone on the field. The flame around Drago died and the Pyrus Bakugan was majestic. He was red with accents of gold, the horns running down his back were gold as well. In the center of his body, he was tan, with large white scales on the side. However, the most interesting part of his body was where the connection to the perfect core lay, a blue diamond, outlined in white.

"Drago!" Dan yelled. "How does it feel to be back in the saddle?"

"Great, Dan," Drago replied. "I've missed you, partner."

"Lookin' good, buddy!"

"Feelin' good." Drago returned to ball form and flew to Dan's hand. Looking at his gauntlet, Will saw Lync's meter drop to what looked about half.

"Hey, what is a life gauge anyway?" Dan asked Mira.

Mira explained the Life Gauge to Dan and Will. "Then how come Volt's dropped by 10%?"

"It's softened because their gauntlets are better than ours." Mira explained. "Once you become a Vexos, you get one of those gauntlets that give you special benefits in battle. Volt chose to decrease the damage he receives, while Lync chose to have his gate cards be more powerful.

"It's my turn to play!" Mira yelled. "Gate card: Set!" The gate card landed and expanded in a glow of brown-orange light. "Bakugan Brawl, Bakugan stand; Subterra Wilda!"

Volt put out a Haos Freezer, and Link threw his Ventus Atmos. Once again both at 350 G's. "Gate card open: Subterra Reactor" Many earthen spikes rose from the ground, matching the ones already there. Wilda's power level went up by 400 G's.

"You think you're so clever," Lync chided. "Ability Activate: Typhoon Chaser." The earthen towers were damaged as Atmos' power increased by 100 G's.

"Man this guy really is a blowhard," Dan yelled to be heard.

"Double Ability, Activate," Mira yelled. _Ability Card: Set_

"No way!" Dan and Will yelled at the same time.

"Power winder plus Gun lock!" Orange energy rippled out from Wilda and Atmos lost the green glow. _Power Surge Detected._ Wilda had siphoned 200 G's from Atmos.

"That's pretty damn sweet," Will commented.

"Awesome," Dan noted. "I didn't know it was possible."

"I'll take this one, kid," Mira stated with bite in her voice. _Oh, shit._ "You've got a few things to learn."

Dan pouted like a child not getting what he wanted, which caused Drago to try and make him calm down. Will leaned over to Mira and whispered, "Give me a signal if you need help."

"I've got this," Mira waved him off. "Go, Wilda attack!"

"Bring it!" Volt yelled. "Ability activate: Freeze jam."

Wilda froze in place as Breezer rose a tentacle and let out a yellow energy.

"You take too much for granted," Lync taunted. "Abilities don't help if you can't use 'em." Mira nodded at Will.

"Bakugan Brawl!" Will yelled as he rolled Leonidas into the battle. Leonidas stood, a black humanoid dragon hybrid with three purple talons for fingers and toes. He had purple symbols on his giant scaled body, with purple outlining his wings and purple horns on his head. He entered the battlefield with 450 G's.

Leo roared and spoke in his deep voice, "Let's get this party started."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Will agreed. "Ability Activate: Alpha Blaster." _Leonidas Increase By 2-0-0 G's._ Leo gathered energy in his mouth and fired at Atmos, knocking him back into ball form. "Fusion ability activate: Theta Booster." _Leonidas Increase By 2-0-0 G's_. Leo faced Atmos and gathered a larger purple energy ball in his mouth and fired, turning Freezer back into a ball as well.

Both Lync and Volt's life gauges dropped to zero as Leonidas returned to Will's shoulder, while Freezer and Atmos had gone to Will's hand. Dan raced over and gave him a high-five, while Mira had a shocked look on her face.

"Dude, how did you take those Bakugan?" Dan inquired excitedly.

"I don't know," Will replied in a state of post-battle giddiness. "But that was cool!"

"It's because of the power level difference," Mira explained. "When the difference in power is more than 500 G's, you take the other player's Bakugan."

"Sounds like a good way to get started in saving the Bakugan," Will acknowledged.

Let me know what you guys thought of the first episode, I'm entirely open to new suggestions and will reply to your reviews in my next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

I realize that my first paragraph is the same as my summary and I apologize for that. It was a lazy thing for me to do. To save time, I will not be writing from the Vexos' point of view, but instead I will focus on character relationships and development.

"Achoo!" Dan sneezed as they rode on the back of Mira's bike.

"If you're going to sneeze, try not to do it on my jacket," Mira groaned.

"It's mostly on me," Will made a face as he looked down at his polo. "There's a quick way to clean clothes where we're going, right?"

Mira laughed, "Of course, do you think these plastoid clothes clean themselves?"

"Hey Mira," Dan began. "Aren't you a Vestal just like those Lync and Volt dudes?"

"I may be a Vestal," Mira explained. "But I'm not like them."  
"Well of course," Will stated. "You lead the Resistance."

"It's a long story, but I suppose you should know." Mira goes on to explain from learning about Bakugan to confronting her father about the Bakugan being alive. "The Vexos champions are strong; Volt is the top Haos brawler. Gus is a weasel, but a powerful Subterra brawler. Mylene is the leading Aquos brawler, she's devious. You've met Lync, top Ventus brawler, he'll do anything to win. Shadow Prove is the top Darkus brawler, he's ruthless and cruel. Most deadly of all, Spectra Phantom, #1 Pyrus brawler.

"The six Vexos are champions of all six Bakugan attributes. They're stronger than us."

"They must be hard to fight," Dan commented. "They're all people."

"It's good to know there is honor among some Vestals," Drago noted. Leonidas grunted in agreement.

"Thanks," Mira acknowledged. "That means a lot, coming from you." Mira looked ahead. "We're almost there."

"Where?" Dan asked.

Will smacked him upside the head. "Where do you think?" Will asked rhetorically and pointed directly ahead. It was a two story building, with a wraparound porch on the second floor. It was mainly white with accents of red and blue. _That's not too bad for the first building I've seen on the planet_. Will thought.

"Welcome back!" A guy with yellow clothes, apparently made from the same material as Mira's, greeted. They pulled to a short stop, knocking him over from the wind. Now that they were closer, Will realized the guy had pink hair held directly up by a red bandana.

"Hello, Baron," Mira greeted. "Let me introduce you to our guests."

"A Master!" Baron got right in Dan's face, clearly excited. _What am I,_ Will thought _. Chopped liver?_

"Master?" Dan questioned.

"Not him?" Leonidas asked.

"I know exactly who you are," Baron stated excitedly. "You're Dan Kuso, a Bakugan Brawling Master!" Will looked at Mira and mouthed questioningly _Fanboy?_ Mira nodded.

Baron backed away and bowed, "I am at your service, Master."

"Uh-hi, Baron," Dan greeted.

Will smiled as Baron shook Dan's hand with enough force to move him off the bike. "I've never seen anyone so happy," Drago commented. Baron's face lit further when he saw Drago flying.

"And you must be Master Drago!" Baron greeted excitedly, getting as close as he possibly could with the bike in the way.

Mira looked embarrassed as Baron fanboyed over Drago. Baron finally walked off, realizing he had embarrassed himself.

Mira laughed and said, "You'll have to excuse Baron; he's one of your biggest fans. He knows all about how you saved Vestroia and created New Vestroia. He even has a poster of you up on his bedroom wall."

"Sorry about that," Baron apologized. "I guess I got carried away."

"Hey, it's cool man," Dan replied. "I get recognized all the time." Dan carried on talking when Will got off the bike and heard a low growl and the sound of something snapping. He turned and saw a woman with shoulder length blue hair and purple and black clothes watching them from a rock. This lady was clearly pissed off and was looking for a fight.

"Hey guys," Will interrupted Dan. "Look over there." Will pointed at the person watching them.

"That's Ace," Mira informed.

Ace walked forward and sarcastically apologized, "Sorry to interrupt your bragging."

"Ace!" Mira scolded. "They're our guests."

"Wisen up!" Baron yelled. "Do you have any idea who these guys are?"

"And they can go back where they came from," Ace retorted. "We don't need their help. We'll free the Bakugan alone."

"Three people against six," Will pretended to calculate. "Those don't look like good odds to me, I think you might want at least numerical equality, if not supremacy. Just saying."

"And we're not gonna walk away if the Bakugan need us!" Dan exclaimed.

"Well said," Drago commented.

"Too bad," Ace replied angrily. "We don't need any of your help to rescue all of the captured Bakugan. This is none of your business, so take your friend and go home."

"No, Ace," Mira stepped forward. "To free the Bakugan, we're going to need all the help we can get. We don't have time for one of your ego trips."

"Just humor me," Ace smiled. "The humans should prove themselves." Ace raised her hand and held a Darkus Bakugan between her fingers. "Whatta ya say, Master? Beat Percival, and you can join the Bakugan Brawler Resistance." She laughed.

"Drago?" Dan questioned.

They arrived at an open field with wind blowing. "Why are they fighting each other?" Baron questioned. "They're on the same side."

"Maybe they're just getting it out of there systems," Mira theorized. Will could feel the tension in the air, it roiled out from Dan and Ace, creating a collision of wills.

"I think if they don't," Will spoke. "It'll destroy them."

The ensuing battle was intense, each brawler not getting an edge over the other. They brawled until sundown, when at last they both collapsed from exhaustion. The three others rushed to help as they both rolled into the large crater they had made, landing next to each other. They laughed as Will and the others arrived at their side. The tension dissipated as they lay there laughing.

"Man, you're off the rim," Ace complimented.

"And you're not?" Dan countered, still slightly laughing.

"You fought well, Percival," Drago noted.

"We'll settle this another time, Drago," Percival replied.

"After we get some rest," Drago promised.

The pair of brawlers laughed louder than before, laying there as new friends.

"Looks like we have two new members," Mira commented.

After the sun had set, the five brawlers were in the control room.

"Dimension controllers?" Dan questioned. "What's that?"

"Are those what turned the Bakugan into balls?" Will asked.

"Yes, there are three of them," Mira explained. "Alpha, Beta, and Gamma."

"So," Will theorized. "If we destroy all three, the Bakugan will return to their natural states?"

"It's worth trying," Ace answered. "Battling Vexos will only get us so far, we need to hit them where it really hurts. That's why we've gotta wipe out all three controllers."

"But each of the dimension controllers is in the center of a city." Baron provided a problematic situation.

Mira nodded, "That means we have to hit the enemy in his lair. What do you think, Dan?"

Dan covered his mouth and made muffled noises, for his mouth was full.

"Chew, swallow, then speak, Dan," Will teased. The Vestals looked at him like he had grown a second head. "It's a thing my mother used to say when I did that as a kid."

Dan swallowed and spoke, "Sounds like my kinda mission!"

"Now that's the stuff," Mira acknowledged.

"I'm in!" Baron raised his hand.

"Gotta love a guy who doesn't overthink things," Ace agreed.

"Brace yourselves everyone," Baron announced. "We're taking off!"

The floor began to shake as the command center began moving. Dan started freaking out while Will braced himself on the nearest object, which just so happened to be Dan. The two Earthling members toppled into a heap on the floor of the command center. They untangled as quickly as possible, trying not to embarrass themselves further. Will sat in the nearest seat to him just as Baron shouted, "Next stop: Alpha!"

Will slouched in his seat, expecting a remark from Leonidas, who had been surprisingly silent. Then he heard Leonidas's laugh, but not from his pocket. He looked to where the source of the sound was and saw Leonidas floating next to Drago, both Bakugan laughing at them. Dan was immediately at the window, watching the canyon wall go by. _Does anything ever slow him down?_ Will asked himself.

"This building moves?" Dan asked in amazement.

"Relax," Mira said. "The base turns into a tank."

"I think you'll love our technology," Ace stated from the seat next to Will. "Even someone as slow as Dan can operate it." Will laughed as Dan walked over to check out what Ace was doing.

Will turned to face Mira and posed a seemingly random question, "Hey, Mira, is there a way to access the roof while in tank mode?"

"Yeah," Mira answered. "Here, I'll show you."

She brought him down a few halls and showed him a ladder. Leonidas had followed them, knowing Will wanted to talk.

"Thanks Mira," Will thanked. He climbed the ladder to the roof, Leonidas on his shoulder.

"Anytime," Mira replied. The brawler and his partner made it to the roof, Will taking a minute to adjust to the wind.

"What's on your mind," Leonidas inquired.

"It's just that we're on New Vestroia," Will responded. "This place is so overwhelming, and we never went to Vestroia." Will sat on the cold metal. "I really didn't think about it until now, but Dr. Michael's portal isn't operational, so how are we going to get home?"

"Will," Leonidas soothed. "I've never been to Vestroia or New Vestroia either. I was born in the Doom Dimension and opted to stay on Earth with you. Besides, you did all you could to help Dr. Michael. I'm sure we'll find a way to at least contact people through dimensions."

"That's how we'll do it!" Will exclaimed, jumping up to his feet. "This was our major problem in establishing a connection, we had nobody on the other side, but now…." Will became crestfallen. "I don't have any equipment. How am I going to help without equipment?"

"How did you get the equipment in the first place?" Leonidas rhetorically questioned. "You built it. Albeit with help from Dr. Michael, but you made it with that mind of yours, you can build more with whatever we salvage from this 'Alpha City'."

"You're right, Leo," Will agreed, his spirits lightening. "I'll make a list of the components used, and then we can make the equipment from what we can, together."

"Together," Leonidas agreed.

Again, please review, tell me what you like or didn't like and I'll be sure to take your suggestions into account. And I realized that I spelled Lync's name wrong throughout the story, so I fixed it and will be sure to spell his name correctly in the future.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to those who reviewed, at the time of me writing this, there have been two reviews, both from guests.

Guest on August 1st: I know what you mean, Skyress leaving was probably leaving because the voice actor wanted to do other things. Shun and Skyress are like siblings, she'd never leave Shun willingly.

Guest on August 2nd: I am trying to update at most 5 days apart so I can get work done as well as this. I'm very glad you enjoy this story and will keep on writing.

Again guys please review with suggestions or just to share your opinion. Also, I'm not going to spend too much time on battles my character isn't involved in, as to allow for more story and less unnecessary text.

The command room was quiet, Mira and Ace were chatting by a monitor, while Baron drove the tank. Will was standing by a window in his new clothes. They were purple and black, much like Ace's, however more understated. The sleeves were not overly big, and he had a Bakugan holder strapped to his waist. the most showy thing about his outfit was the dark locket that now hung from his neck. Inside was a picture from when he and Alice had finished working on the Dimension Transporter for the day. He remembered that evening like it was just last night.

 _Will kicked the snow angrily. Still not much progress on the machine. It had been 6 months since Naga had been defeated, and Will noticed that Alice missed Hydranoid. She had been starting to look sadder by the day. Leonidas always being around not helping this one bit. The two of them were walking back to the house, trailing behind Dr. Michael. Will searched around for something to cheer Alice up._ There, _Will thought._ That'll do it. _He bent over and made a snowball._

 _Alice looked over at him curiously. He started putting more and more snow onto it until he couldn't lift it anymore. Will rolled the snowball around until it was about 3 feet across. He then repeated the process and made a ball 2 feet across. Alice understood now what he was doing and ran to grab two sticks. After constructing the head and putting what they had together, Will realized their snowman didn't have a face. To rectify this matter, He grabbed everything he had in his pockets; some wire, a couple of nuts and bolts, and a few batteries. On the front, the face he made was neutral. On the left, it was happy, and on the right, it was sad. Will picked up two more sticks and put them in under the first two._

 _Certain his creation was done, Will gestured with his arms towards the snow-Bakugan. "I give you," Will paused for dramatic effect. "Snow-Fortress, the unconquerable." Will took out his phone. "We must document this new species of Bakugan with the ones who discovered it."_

 _And so the two Darkus brawlers and two rare Bakugan took a picture together. Leonidas on Snow-Fortress's head, Alice on Snow-Fortress's left, and Will on its right. The two brawlers were smiling, Snow-Fortress was ambivalent, and Leonidas was in ball form because he was 'cold'._

Will was pulled back into the present by the door opening and Dan announcing, "Ta-da!" Dan was dressed like the rest of the team, with style. He had a red jacket over a blue tank top, with white pants and a belt with those impractical yet stylish loops hanging at his sides. "Ha-ha. So, what d'ya think."

"It seems to fit you just fine," Mira responded.

"That uniform looks awesome on you!" Baron replied excitedly.

"Ha-ha," Dan boasted. "You got that right, man. This stuff fits like it was made for me."

"The better you look," Drago commented. "The better you brawl."

"I'll admit that I didn't expect you to pull together something looking so good," Will joked. Mira and Ace laughed while Dan looked slightly embarrassed. "Also, thanks for letting me use a Darkus uniform that doesn't look too much like Ace's. No offense Ace, but those sleeves are a bit over the top for me."

"None taken," Ace replied.

"Ok, let's move on," Mira ordered. "Dan, you can't just battle with Drago." She put some Bakugan in his hand.

"Thanks Mira," Dan began. "These're cool, but I won't be needing them."

"Drago isn't enough." Mira argued.

"I need some backup, Dan," Drago agreed with Mira. "There is strength in numbers."

"What?" Dan questioned in disbelief.

Mira gave a short laugh and asked rhetorically, "Now do you see my point?"

"Yeah," Dan laughed nervously and put his new Bakugan into his jacket pocket. "I guess. Sorry about that Drago."

"Hey, Mira," Will asked. "Can you toss me a Subterra Bakugan?"

Mira looked confused. "Why?" she asked.

"Because I've got Darkus, Ventus, and Haos Bakugan," Will explained. "With a Subterra, I'll be able to use an attribute alignment ability to amp up the power my Bakugan can pack."

"I never thought of that," Mira replied. "But I don't have any to spare."

"That's alright," Will said, energized. "I'll just have to go and free some."

"That's the spirit!" Dan complimented. "We're gonna need some heavy-duty training if we're gonna take the Vexos down, and I'm just the guy to lead it. What d'ya say?"

"If it's all the same to you, Dan," Will asked. "I think I'll train with Mira. She seems to know how to strategize better."

Dan nearly fell over from shock. "What d'ya mean you don't want to train with me?"

"I can predict how you're gonna brawl," Will replied evenly. "But I can't predict Mira because I've never brawled her before."

Dan began to yell at Will, mainly trying to preserve his masculinity in front of his fanboy. After a few long minutes of this, Dan stopped for breath.

"If it's that important to you," Will finally caved. "I'll brawl you. If I win, I don't need to be a part of your 'training camp'."

"And if I win," Dan smiled, finally getting what he wanted. "You have to go along with my Bakugan Boot Camp."

The five of them found themselves in a clearing of the forest they drove into from the canyon. Dan and Will stood there, gauntlets inactive. Will was reading Dan's face and saw the plan of attack: Burning Dragon + Burning Tornado. _A little bit of Beta Barrier will throw him off guard, and then Leo can take him down with Omicron Orb and Epsilon Enhancer._ Will's tactics were set for this round. _Gauntlet: Activated_

Will slid the card into his gauntlet at the same time as Dan. "Gauntlet: Power Strike!" They yelled simultaneously. Dan set his card first and rolled Drago onto it.

"Bakugan: Brawl!" Will yelled as he threw Leonidas. "Leo, stand!"

"Double Ability: Activate!" Dan shouted. "Burning Dragon, plus Burning Tornado!"

"Ability: Activate," Will responded. "Beta Barrier." _Drago Power Level Returned to Base Level. Leonidas Power Level Increase by 1-0-0 G's._

"What?" Dan questioned. "How did he-"

"Double Ability: Activate. Omicron Orb, plus Epsilon Enhancer." _Leonidas Power Level Increase by 4-0-0 G's._ A large purple orb appeared between Leonidas's hands, which he then fired directly at Drago.

"Gate Card: open!" Dan yelled. "Pyrus Reactor!" _Drago Power Level Increase by 2-0-0 G's._ The orb hit home, directly on Drago's chest. Drago roared as he fell out of the sky and returned to ball form after hitting the ground. _Dan Life Force: 20%_

Will caught Leonidas as he flew back to his hand. "Great job, Leo," Will congratulated.

"We threw him off too easily," Leonidas responded. "Let's keep this battle going to preserve Dan's ego."

"Alright, Leo," Will laughed as he responded. "You can have your fun." Will brought a Gate Card out of his pocket. _Let's not use any of Leo's special abilities. Alright, this is a Darkus Reactor card, I'll throw in Freezer and use a combination of Haos and Darkus to give me an edge, as well as using a one sided Pyrus and Darkus combination._

"Gate Card: set," Will set the card. "Bakugan Brawl. Freezer, Stand." Freezer rose from ball form, ready to battle.

"Too easy, Will," Dan chided. "Drago, Stand! Ability: Activate!" Drago gathered a ball of fire in his mouth. "Burning Dragon!" _Drago Power Level Increase by 2-0-0 G's_

"Ability: Activate," Will ordered. "Freeze Jam." Freezer lifted a tentacle and let out the yellow energy. The fire in Drago's mouth died and he stayed frozen in midair. _Drago Power Level Decrease by 2-0-0 G's._ "Bakugan Brawl," _Combined Strength of Leonidas and Freezer: 8-0-0 G's._ Leonidas flew extremely quickly at Drago and slashed with his talons, transforming Drago back into ball form. Leonidas and Freezer returned to Will's open hand.

"Good game, Dan," Will walked over to Dan and gave the grumbling Pyrus Brawler a handshake. Dan looked a little disheartened that he lost, but immediately cheered up when Baron came over and fanboyed over him.

The next day was when Baron was to start training with Dan. Ace, Mira, and Will walked into the clearing that had been used yesterday to see that the Bakugan had stood in the field.

"Get psyched," Dan chanted. "Get psyched, get psyched, AAAAAHHH!" Dan banged his fists on his chest. Will and Mira were unimpressed, while Ace had to sit down from the sheer stupidity she just saw.

"The key to every battle is getting psyched for it," Dan explained to Baron.

"Not like that helped him yesterday," Will whispered in Mira's ear. Mira chuckled quietly. When Will turned his attention back to the pair of brawlers, they were chanting in unison. Will was the next to go down.

"Is he gonna be like this every time he brawls?" Ace asked, clearly annoyed.

"Not if he plans on living," Will responded jokingly.

Drago sighed, "Sorry Nemus, these humans, they do funny things."

"I understand," Nemus's voice was odd, sounding a little like a kazoo. "Bakugan cannot be responsible for their brawlers." Nemus paused. "Mind you, I haven't seen Baron this excited or confident in a long while."

"Really?" Drago was not convinced in the slightest.

The 'psyching' went on for long enough that Mira sat down too.

"I'm sorry, I can't train with you," Baron stated so abruptly that Ace and Will nearly jumped to their feet in surprize. Dan, on the contrary, nearly fell to the ground. "It's just that I don't think I deserve to battle with someone of your skill and bravery, sir."

"Whoa, whoa," Will argued as he stood up. "Baron, I highly doubt that. And if you don't believe me, I'll help you." Will walked over to him. "Dan's methods work for him, sure. But I beat him, remember? That means even he can lose. And I was holding back, If I had wanted to, I could have taken Drago."

"You don't understand," Baron yelled, tears welling in his eyes. "It's all my fault what happened to Tigrerra. She trusted me and I lost her."

"I can help you," Will replied. "And when we get Tigrerra back, she'll forgive you."

"Besides," Leonidas backed Will. "Will's strategies are all about reading your opponent, sending feelers out, and not taking crazy risks." Leonidas let his point sink in. "He's the perfect person to get you back in the game."

"R-really?" Baron asked, looking up at him hopefully.

"Guys," Ace interrupted, pointing at the sky. "I hate to interrupt, but there's a Vexos ship heading right for us!"

"What the hell?" Will looked up into the sky to see a black ship with purple markings heading on a collision course with the ground. "Baron, Dan, run!" The trio raced back into the trees as the nose end of the ship implanted itself into the ground.

The cockpit opened and crazy laughter emanated from a figure with spiky hair as before it fell onto the ground. He bounced down the side of the ship. _Spiky white hair, purple and black clothes,_ Will thought. _Must be Shadow Prove._ He looked at the figure still in the cockpit, she had short hair and lots of blue. _Blue, must be Mylene._ Shadow landed with his head in the dirt, which took some effort to pull out, apparently. Mylene stood up and watched Shadow pull his head out of the dirt.

"You imbecile," Mylene insulted. "Must everything be a joke with you, Shadow"

"What a rush," Shadow stated, completely ignoring Mylene.

"Baron," Will turned away from the Vexos. "You've got this one."

"M-me?" Baron stammered, still staring at Shadow. "I don't think I-"

"Look at me," Will ordered. Baron did so. "Baron, I'll be right next to you, giving you advice, you have nothing to worry about."

Baron looked far more confident now.

"Let's get this party started," Dan responded to a taunt that Will wasn't listening to.

"Not you," Mira ordered sternly. "Let Baron take him on."

"Alright, Baron," Will pep-talked. "We've got this, let's show them how Darkus and Haos react!"

"Right," Baron nodded and put his Haos gauntlet on as Shadow did the same. "Gauntlet, Power Strike!"

Shadow was the first to set a card. Onto the card he put a Darkus Anchorsaur. The wolf beast had shields on his shoulders and a power level of 350.

"Baron," Will offered up Freezer. "If you use Freezer, you can use Freeze Jam to knock out any abilities he may have up his sleeve." He closed his hand around Freezer and continued. "Alternatively, you can try to best him with another of your Bakugan, Nemus, for example, and use offensive abilities in rapid succession." Will fired off another few options, making Baron put his hands to his head.

"Why are you giving me so many options?" Baron asked.

"Because that's how I brawl, I look for options and mull them over in my head before deciding on one, so here's a better option. We use our combined knowledge to take him out together."

Baron nodded. "Shadow tends to use scare tactics a lot, using a fearsome Bakugan to force bad decisions out of his opponents."

"Then we just need to fight fire with water," Will smiled.

"I don't understand."

"Use Freezer and Nemus together, they should be able to take him out no matter what he throws."

"Oh, nice plan."

"Now put it into action."

Baron followed the plan exactly, keeping his calm throughout. Will smiled to himself as Baron won three of 5 matches they played, taking Shadow's life bar down to zero and freeing three Darkus Bakugan. Anchorsaur, Hammersaur, and Atchabee.

"No fair!" Shadow exclaimed. "I'm the one who's supposed to cheat, not the Resistance!"

"You are an overconfident nimscrit," Mylene insulted

"I am _not_!"

"Oh, man up. This is your loss and you're taking the blame for it. Get in the ship, we're going. And this time, I'm driving."

"I can't believe how bossy you are!" Shadow complained before the cockpit closed.

Will whistled, "He's gonna have hell to pay when he reports to Spectra."

"And it's all thanks to Baron," Mira complimented. "Well done."

After they went back to the tank and dinner was over, Will went out on a walk through the forest. He went out without Bakugan or a gauntlet, just a pocket knife. Every so often Will marked a tree, telling him which way was back to the tank.

"Hey, Will," Baron came up behind Will as he walked into a clearing.

"Hey Baron," Will turned and smiled. "What's up?"

"Why aren't you in any of the records?"

"What-Why do you ask that?"

"You aren't in any of the records, and seeing how good you were today got me thinking, why haven't I heard of a Master Will?"


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys, sorry about that cliffhanger, I felt like it was kinda important to have. Please feel free to review with your opinions and suggestions.

Will gestured for Baron to follow him, "Follow me and I'll tell you."

Baron did so as they walked around a lake. Each step moved the soft dirt beneath them, some small specks of dirt falling into the lake.

"Just after Masquerade had taken Dan to the Doom Dimension," Will started, no longer boyish. "I was enraged by this masked man, and sought him out. I tried to find every connection I could, so when I remembered about who Drago saw with Naga, I started looking into Dr. Michael and his disappearance. I looked at the approximate times that Masquerade battled and compared them with nearly everyone on the global Bakugan chat."

"How long did those calculations take, and how could you have possibly figured it out?"

"Marucho had literally everything I could need at his mansion. I ran these impossibly long numbers through a supercomputer." Will stopped to throw a stone across the lake. _One, two, three, four skips, not bad._ "When I ran these numbers I came up with a very long list of people, as you can imagine. Then I ran those numbers based upon how old they were. The numbers went down further. The results then had everyone who had battled for Masquerade removed. This narrowed the numbers much more. Of course the battle brawlers and anyone who battled Masquerade directly were removed." Will turned and looked Baron dead in the eye. "Nobody on the chat fit all of these parameters." Will looked back at the lake and sat down. "I ran the numbers again, this time removing just those who had battled Masquerade after the age. I came up with one person in the whole world: Alice.

"I thought that it couldn't be right, that there had to be some mistake, but whenever I ran the numbers I always got Alice. I decided to try and tell the brawlers immediately, but by this time, they were having the final confrontation with Masquerade, and was too late." Will laughed bitterly. "I was too busy running millions of numbers that I didn't think about Dr. Michael's granddaughter.

"I shared in the defeats, but none of the victories." Will looked at Baron again. "The only important battle I was involved in was fighting Naga's forces as they tried to invade Earth."

"Wow," Baron remarked, sitting next to Will. "Just wow."

"That's enough of my sob story for one night, let's start heading back."

For most of the night, Will didn't sleep. He lay there for hours, unable to think about anything but his wasted hours standing by the computer, waiting for the calculations to finish. Will didn't remember falling asleep, but he knew the moment his dream began:

 _Will stood on the opposite end of the field as Masquerade, staring into that mask. The battle was down to the final battle, both players with only one Bakugan left to play._

" _You fooled me once, Masquerade," Will shouted, an observer to his own mind. "Never again."_

" _Ha," The masked brawler laughed at his defiance. "You don't stand a chance."_

 _The final gate card was Masquerade's, Dual Hydranoid and Leo were both on the card._

" _Ability Card: Activate!" Will shouted. "Alpha blaster!" Leo flew into the air and charged his ability._

" _Darkus Gazer!" Masquerade yelled. Hydranoid gathered twin balls of energy in its mouths. The first intercepted Leo's attack, while the other hit dead on. Will watched in horror as his friend was sucked into the-_

Will woke with a start, the sun now high in the air. He rubbed his eyes and looked around the room. _Damn,_ Will remarked. _They must've gone to train without me._ He quickly got ready for the day, putting on his uniform, grabbing one of the only gauntlets left: the Aquos gauntlet, and sliding the three Darkus Bakugan that Baron had put on Will's nightstand into his holder. Will headed up to the command room, yet found nobody there. _Maybe they're outside._ Will checked the outside cameras. _No signs of a battle happening anywhere._ He stumbled outside to see where they might be and stopped suddenly. _Ugh, I hate tunnel vision._ Will thought as his vision cleared.

"Hey," Leonidas grumbled, jumping onto Will's shoulder. "What's with all this jostling?"

"I appear to have lost the Resistance," Will responded groggily.

"Hmph, no wonder," Leonidas joked. "You lost your toolbox when you were working on the Dimension Transporter a few times."

"I still stand by that Alice or Dr. Michael had moved it each time."

"Just keep on denying if that's what makes you happy."

Will took off into the forest, following the etches he had made in the trees. _Maybe they went to that lake._ Will raced into the clearing, surprised to see not a Resistance member, but Mylene standing on the other side of the lake.

"You!" Will yelled, pointing at Mylene. "Where're my friends?"

"Oh, looks like the little kid lost his way," Mylene smirked. "Do you want me to help find your mommy?"

"You're going to tell me where they are," Will growled.

"Or what kid?" Mylene taunted. "You're going to tell on me?"

Will's eyes narrowed to slits, his hand reaching down to his gauntlet. _Gauntlet: Activated._

"Ah, so that's how you wanna do this?" Mylene taunted. She raised her arm and will heard a faint _Gauntlet: Activated._

"Gauntlet: Power Strike!" The two yelled.

"Gate Card: Set!" Mylene yelled. "Bakugan, Brawl. Bakugan, Stand! Aquos Abis Omega!"

The serpent rose from the water, formidable and imposing. It spoke in a rather high pitched voice, "Don't worry little Bakugan, I'll make your defeats quick and painless."

"My turn," Will shouted. "Bakugan, brawl, Freezer, stand!" Freezer rose in its massive form. "Now, Atchabee, Stand!" Will threw in the Darkus Bakugan, watching the giant insect rise above Freezer. _Combined Atchabee and Freezer Power Level 7-0-0 G's. Abis Omega Power Level at 3-5-0 G's._

"Double Ability: Activate!" Mylene ordered. "Dry World plus Aquos Vortex!" _Abis Omega Power Level Increase to 5-5-0 G's. Atchabee and Freezer Power Level Decrease to 5-0-0 G's._ Abis Omega spiraled upwards in a water spout, causing Atchabee to swerve away and Freezer shifted backwards. When the vortex stopped, the water gathered into a ball around Atmos.

"Double Ability: Activate!" Will slid two cards into his gauntlet. "Freeze Jam plus Correlation of Haos and Darkus." _Atchabee and Freezer Power Level increase to 9-0-0 G's. Abis Omega Power Level Decrease to 3-5-0 G's._ Atchabee raced at the now frozen Abis Omega, transforming him into ball form and sending all three of the Bakugan to Will. _Mylene Life Force: 40%._ He smirked. "Gate Card: Set!" Will threw down a gate card. "Bakugan, Brawl. Stand Ventus Atmos!"

The bird flew up and stayed high above the water, waiting for an opponent. It found two in the forms of Aquos Clawsaur and another Aquos Bakugan, totaling 800 G's

"Two on one, hmm," Will's mind raced. _Correlation of Ventus and Aquos: the more Aquos on the field, the more Atmos gains power, but he'll need backup._ He pulled Abis out of his belt. _This'll do the trick._ "Bakugan Brawl, Stand Abis Omega!" _Abis Omega And Atmos Trailing by 1-0-0 G's._ "Ability: Activate, Correlation of Ventus and Aquos!" _Atmos Power Level Increase by 3-0-0 G's. Atmos and Abis Omega Leading at 1-0-0-0 G's._ "Go get 'em guys!"

"I summon the ancient Trap Bakugan Aqua Tripod Theta!" A Triangular Bakugan flew high into the clouds, where it stood dramatically, lightning striking the lake and the giant semi-stone Bakugan rose. "Tripod Theta is a powerful ancient Bakugan long thought extinct. But thanks to Vestal science, we have revived him as a Trap Bakugan."

"I'll get you out Tripod Theta!" Will looked through his cards until he found one. When he looked up to use it though, Atmos and Abis Omega were defeated and returned to him. _Will Life Force: 30%._

"Gate Card: Set!" Mylene shouted. "Bakugan Trap Tripod Theta Stand!"

"Bakugan Brawl, Leo Stand!" Will shouted.

"Let's finish this!" Leonidas roared.

"Darkus Ability: Activate!" Mylene shouted. "Live Ripple!"

Ghosts of the Bakugan that Will had defeated appeared in front of Tripod Theta. He blinked and rubbed his eyes.

"Am I seeing things?"

"Live Ripple creates energy bodies of all the previously defeated Bakugan. Also, energy bodies feed Trap Bakugan's power."

"Ability: Activate," Will felt his head spin a little. "Omicron Orb."

Leonidas gathered a purple orb in his hands and launched it forth. An energy shield around Tripod Theta absorbed the orb. _Leonidas Power Level at 6-5-0 G's. Tripod Theta Power Level at 6-0-0 G's._

"Ha!" Mylene laughed. "You think that'll stop me? Double Ability: Activate! Aquos Vortex Plus Ventus Storm!" _Tripod Theta Power Level Increase to 1-0-0-0. Leonidas Power Level Returned to Base Level._

"NO!" Will yelled. "Ability-"

"Too late," Mylene interrupted. A waterspout rose and was sent forward by a rush of green wind. Just then a Ventus Bakugan at 400 G's rolls onto the card. A masked Ventus brawler showed up next to Will.

"Ability: Activate!" The masked brawler sounded like Shun. "Armored Victory!" _Ingram Power Level Increase to 6-0-0 G's. Tripod Theta Power Level Decrease to 6-0-0 G's. Leonidas Power Level Increase to 6-5-0._ The water vortex dissipated against Ingram's wings and the Ventus and Darkus Bakugan illuminated their specific colors.

"Ability: Activate," Will ordered shakily. "Alpha Blaster." _Leonidas Power Level Increase to 8-0-0 G's. Combined Power Level of Ingram and Leonidas at 1-4-0-0._

Leonidas roared and soared into the sky, charging a purple blast of energy and firing it at Tripod Theta. The energy shield broke and Tripod Theta fell, going to Will's hand, along with Leonidas. Will crouched, closed his eyes, and put Leonidas up against his forehead.

"I thought you were a goner," Will confessed quietly.

"So did I," Leo whispered.

"Are you alright?" The voice was definitely Shun's.

"Yeah," Will opened his eyes to see Shun at eye level with him. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Come on," Shun gestured for him to get up and did so himself. "We have to go."

Will did as he was told and put his Bakugan in his jacket pocket. "This way," Will informed Shun with a point. As the brawlers made their way back, they were met halfway by the rest of the Resistance. A yellow blur Will assumed was Baron raced past and suddenly Will was on the ground with someone on top of him.

Mira looked back at the four of them, the relieved Ace sitting on top of the half-awake Will, and Dan and Shun both quickly trying to no-homo their hug. Mira rolled her eyes at the latter pair as Baron began fanboying over Shun. When her eyes finally settled on Ace and Will, she waited a few moments as they talked before clearing her throat loudly. How could Ace not notice that she was on top of _that_ one?

Ace looked around and blushed. She quickly scrambled to her feet and helped Will up. He rose slowly and nearly fell into Ace when he stood. Mira watched him give a quick "thanks" and looked slightly confused, standing rather far from Ace.

"That must've been one intense battle," Mira noted. "We saw it from the forest on the other side of the tank."

"It was," Will stated. "I would've lost Leo if Shun hadn't showed up."

"You had already won most of the battle," Shun deflected the compliment. "You just needed a little help."

"Don't sell yourself short," Will continued complimenting Shun and Mira thought more than once that she saw Dan glare at Will.

"Will, you go back to the tank and get some rest," Mira ordered. "You look like you can use it. Ace, you and Dan go practice, you'll need to be in top form for Alpha City. Shun, go along with Will to see your new room and make sure he doesn't get lost on his way there."

Will nodded, clearly not understanding that it was a subtle insult, and took Shun to see the room. Dan looked like he was going to protest, but then must have realized that he was going to battle. Ace did likewise and the pair went to battle.

Baron looked at Mira expectantly and asked, "What should I do?"

"We're going to run systems checks on the Tank," Mira responded. "And also look for some sleeping pills for Will."

How did you guys like Mira's perspective? I'm definitely considering using different perspectives throughout. Review or PM me with your thoughts/suggestions, I really would appreciate any and all input.


	5. Chapter 5

I received 3 more reviews, all from guests.

Guest on August 7th: I understand your point and I was trying to keep the perfect core out of that battle because it was a friendly battle with a wager. I was also trying to point out that Will makes his plans before the battle starts and uses tactics rather than what Dan does.

Guest on August 8th, around 4 am: During that battle I was trying to point out Will's strategy and contrast it to Dan's, not how powerful Leo is compared to Drago.

Guest on August 8th, around 9 am: Thank you for your suggestions, I plan on bringing Baron to his better personality in the same episode as the show did. I'm going to work on character relationships and plot development. About Will not thanking Shun, if you remember, Will was really drowsy and he was traumatized by nearly losing Leo, that's why he didn't react much.

I'm glad you all enjoyed, and I hope that you stick around for the full ride, because I've got high hopes for this series. I'm also sorry to all the Elfin fans that read this story for not bringing her into the story yet.

The group sat at a lake much closer to Alpha City than they had been. Baron was lounging by a table, Shun was meditating a few feet to the left, Dan was sitting at the table, Ace was standing at the head of the table, and Will sat at the opposite end.

Will hadn't slept well that night, the recurring nightmare had been dominating his dreams ever since nearly losing Leo. Will shuddered at the thought, how could he ever free the Bakugan without Leo?

Will's head had dipped toward the table, then shot back up. He remembered what had happened the last time he let his head hit the table and he wasn't going to give Ace or Dan the satisfaction of pouring water on his head.

Dan and Baron had begun chatting, something about the water and going in it. Will wasn't concerned with that at the moment. He was more concerned with what he forgot. What was it? What was it that he couldn't remember? He had his belt, Leo was somewhere inside the tank, he made his and Dan's beds. What was it he couldn't remember? Will put his hands to his head as he tried to do that thing that he had seen awhile ago on TV. _Ok, I'm supposed to do, what? Picture a house in my mind and then look for information there? Or am I supposed to put information into the house first and then it will be there when I come back?_

"Damn it," Will cursed as his head hit the table again and he jerked back upright.

"Hey, Will you don't look so good," Ace noted. "You ok?

"Yeah," Will shook his head as he blinked a few times. "Yeah I'm good. It's just - nevermind." So tired, but sleep only brought him nightmares, what was he to do?

"What, what is it?" Ace inquired.

"I said nevermind," Will wasn't going to tell _her_ of all people what the real problem was.

"Tell me," Ace was clearly not taking no as an answer.

"I've got the feeling I forgot to do something, but I don't know what it is?" He replied. After all, it was part of the growing list of his problems.

"Try to go through everything that happened the past few-," Ace trailed off as she looked at him. "Oh, right, Mylene nearly…" Ace looked nervous about how Will would react.

"You can say it," Will stated.

"Nearly beat you," Ace finally managed. He knew she was still holding back from what she was going to say.

"I'd rather not go back to that day," Will waved her off. His mind was trying to race, but was apparently incapable of going fast in longer than short bursts. How can he get rid of the nightmare? Maybe a battle is what he needs? Yeah, he could go for a battle with Ace or someone.

"Hey Ace," Will said. She looked back at him, seemingly surprised at him initiating conversation.

"Yeah," Ace responded tentatively.

"Wanna battle?" Will asked.

"Sure," Ace answered excitedly.

"No holding back, got it Ace?" Will taunted as he stood up slowly.

"Gimme your best brawl," Ace walked with him back to the tank to retrieve their gauntlets. They walked through the halls, Ace looking very nice in the well lit halls. What did he just think? The thought came to his mind out of nowhere and then it just stuck. Will tried banishing the thought from his mind. But what's the harm, he only thought she looked pretty, no more than that.

They walked around one corner and ran directly into Mira, both Will and Mira falling to the floor. _I've got to stop running into the Resistance this way_. He rubbed his temples and sat there. _Man, the floor is really comfortable,_ Will thought. _Maybe I could just lay here for a few moments._

Once again, Will was on the ground. Ace kneeled next to him, hoping he hadn't hurt himself.

"Hey," Mira objected, eyes still closed, fingers still massaging her forehead. "Watch where you're going."

Ace paled as she saw Will's face begin to contort in what looked like pain. She lightly slapped his cheeks, trying to wake him up without hurting him. Ace heard him mumble something that sounded like her name.

"Mira," Ace turned to her and spoke insistently. "Go get the boys from outside, hurry."

Mira opened her eyes, took in the situation, and nodded. Mira got up and ran down the hallway towards the exit.

"Wake up!" Ace yelled as she lightly hit his face. She smacked his shoulder, hard, maybe a little too hard. Yet still, no results.

"What happened?" Shun asked, that damn ninja had silently gone to the other side of Will when she wasn't looking.

"He ran headfirst into Mira and now he's passed out," Ace informed worriedly. Shun opened one of Will's eyelids and shined a light at it. Ace didn't want to back off, but Shun was clearly better prepared for something like this. She backed off, standing up as she did, and noticed that the other three were there too.

"Shun, what can we do?" Dan questioned.

"I can't check to see if he has a concussion," Shun informed them. "But seeing as Mira doesn't show any signs of one, Will should be fine."

"Why wasn't he waking up before?" Ace inquired.

"He's been depriving himself of sleep for some reason," Shun explained. "So he should be out for a few-"

Will woke with a start, the nightmare was much worse than last time. He sat there, shivering and clutching his shoulder. Funny, he didn't remember hitting his shoulder on anything. Will shook his head. He looked up and noticed he wasn't in his room. Why was everyone standing over him like he was about to shatter?

The memories came back in a flood. He hit his head on something, what was it? He saw a bruise on Mira's head. Oh yeah, Will hit his head on Mira's forehead.

"What, did I snore?" Will joked.

Dan and Baron burst out laughing at that. Ace let out a laugh that had something else in it, something Will couldn't identify. Mira and Shun merely gave out faint chuckles.

"He's fine," Shun informed.

"I don't think we should still have that battle," Ace teased. "If Mira's forehead knocks you out, then battling would not be a good idea."

"Hey!" Mira objected jokingly.

The four prone to laughing began doing so, and even Mira gave a full laugh. Will was impressed at Ace's skill to make people laugh. Dan helped him up and the six of them went back out to the lake.

"Dan, I almost forgot," Mira pointed out. "I've got something that will help against the Vexos." She pulled a Bakugan out of her pocket and held it out to him. "It's a Trap Bakugan called Skorpion."

The Pyrus Bakugan was a sphere with a large ring around it. Will pulled his own Trap out of his pocket. Unlike the one Mira was handing Dan, Will's was a triangular pyramid surrounding a sphere.

"This is so cool," Dan admired. "He's not even round."

"It's an honor to meet you, Skorpion," Drago greeted.

"What's the matter dude?" Dan questioned the Bakugan. "Are you a little shy?"

It opened in his hand, the markings and color variations enamouring Will, making him want to study it as he had with Tripod Theta.

"We're still learning about the Trap Bakugan," Mira explained. "But it seems like they're unwilling or unable to talk to us."

"I studied Tripod Theta last night," Will winced, too late to back out now. "And I found that it uses subsonic vibrations to communicate, perhaps Skorpion does as well."

"When did you do this studying?" Ace questioned pointedly. However the question fell on decidedly deaf ears.

"How'd you like to join our team?" Dan asked the Bakugan in his hand. It made noises reminiscent of reptiles and angled itself up and down. At these noises, Tripod Theta opened up and Will felt his hand vibrate in pulses. Skorpion turned to Tripod Theta and the two appeared to have a conversation.

"Alright," Dan turned to Will. "Whaddya say we test out our Bakugan?"

"Remember what just happened ten minutes ago?" Ace interjected. "Mira's forehead beat him. He's not in any real shape to battle."

"She's right Dan," Will agreed, planning on making a joke out of it. "Mira's forehead is more ready for than I am at this point."

"You got that right," Mira added a punch-line. The five of them laughed, and Will could swear he saw Shun chuckle out of the corner of his eye. The Resistance, minus Shun, left the lake to the edge of the desert, where nothing could be collateral damage. As Mira and Dan set up their Gauntlets, a figure came walking out of the desert toward them. Will could tell that something was off. The intruder was dressed in a brown robe that covered almost all of him and had a hood. When he came about 3 feet from Dan, the hooded figure pulled off his hood. Blue shoulder-length hair and green eyes were revealed to them.

"Gus," Ace spat the name out like an insult. Will took an involuntary step back as Gus observed Dan, watching him the way a snake watches prey, silently watching, waiting for an opening. Will could tell this man was far more deadly than the other four he had seen, not the crazed enthusiasm of Shadow, or the quick and cunning Mylene, but patient and fierce like nothing Will had seen before.

His eyes finally focused on Drago, and Gus spoke at last, "That's a fine Bakugan you have there." Will took another step back.

"Don't play your games, Gus," Ace's voice was like acid. "Leave now."

Gus didn't take his eyes off of Dan. "Why are you with the Resistance?"

"Because the Bakugan are my friends," Dan angrily responded. "I'm going to free them all."

"But what's in it for you?" Gus questioned, not sounding genuinely curious. _Just a few steps away,_ Will thought.

"Whaddya mean?" Dan seemed genuinely confused.

"You mean you don't know why you battle?" Gus's face and tone of voice were becoming harder to pick out. "You're an amatuer."

"Amatuer?" Dan was failing to suppress his rage.

"Maybe you're just some kind of mindless do-gooder?" Gus's questions were quickly turning into accusations. "Or maybe you're hungry for power."

"Get out of here now, Gus," Ace too was failing to suppress rage.

"So what's my answer Dan Kuso?"

"It's complicated," Dan responded, still sounding unsure.

"Battling without purpose is meaningless," Gus reprimanded.

"Why don't we settle this right here and now?" Dan challenged.

"Hmph," Gus removed his long robe and put on his gauntlet. "Alright then, if that's what you truly wish."

The pair brawled intensely, Gus having an answer for almost everything that Dan threw at him. Will's assumptions were correct, Gus is not one to be underestimated. Ultimately, Gus defeated Dan, preaching about Spectra and power. Will walked up behind Dan and put a hand on his shoulder.

"He may have won the battle," Will felt cliché as he said it. "But not the war."

Dan nodded in response, picking up Drago and putting him back on his shoulder.

"Let's get back to the tank," Will guided Dan back to the lake where the tank was stationed. "Maybe I could try making something like the Loin Tips your mom makes?"

Dan nodded again as the five of them walked back to the tank. This state of shock isn't unlike what Will went through just yesterday, but at least he could talk.

That night, Will was lounging on top of the tank again, just staring at the stars, trying to find shapes among them. He only found one constellation before someone came up the hatch. Not Ace, not Ace, don't let it be Ace.

"So this is what you do instead of sleep," Ace commented.

"Not all the time," Will tried not to let his annoyance show.

"Mind if I join you?" Ace asked. Will shrugged before she lay down next to him, staring at the stars with him.

"That one looks like a dragon," Ace pointed to a constellation that indeed seemed to form a bipedal dragon with many wings. Why, why did she have to be the one to come up the hatch?

"There's a frog," Will pointed to another constellation, one that could only be a frog the way it was formed. She gets so worked up

"Hey," Ace turned her head to face him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Will replied nonchalantly, still staring up at the stars. Here it comes.

"Why is it you're not sleeping?"

Will sighed, "Nightmares." Ace waited a few moments for elaboration that Will wasn't going to give unless he had to.

"What happens in the nightmares?"

"I lose Leo," Will still kept the nonchalance going. "I lose him to Mylene, Volt, Lync, or Masquerade. It changes every dream."

"That's horrible," Ace commented. "Having to go through that every night."

"Do you know what it's like?" Will asked sincerely, turning his head to face her. "Nearly losing a Bakugan, the dread, frustration, and pain?"

"Yeah, I do," Ace replied. "Gus nearly took Percival from me, and only because I was able to slip a card in last second."

"It's a good thing you did, you and Percival are a great match."

"Thanks," Ace blushed. "You have a very," She paused, clearly searching for the right word. "Unique style of brawling."

"Thanks," Will laughed. He turned back to the stars, smiling at the comment. "You know, I had wondered why you were so concerned about me before, but I think I know now."

"Oh?" Ace sounded hopeful.

He turned to face her again, "It's because we both nearly lost our friends in battle."

"Yeah," Ace said, sounding slightly relieved and disappointed as she turned back to face the stars. "Yeah, that's it." If that wasn't it, what could it possibly be?

"It's so peaceful up here," Ace noted after a while of silence.

"That's why I'm up here instead of sleeping," Will stated. "It gets me away from myself if that makes any sense."

"It kinda doesn't." The two looked at each other again and laughed. Maybe there was another reason she was worried, no, it couldn't be. Will cleared his throat and looked away. She couldn't feel this way about him. No girl ever liked him back. He wasn't even sure about his own feelings for her.

"I think I'm going to turn in for the night," Will got up and braced himself on a railing. "Coming with?"

"Yeah," Ace responded. "Let's go." Will helped her up and the pair went down the hatch.

I tried a new writing style to compensate for the lack of expressed emotion pointed out by the second guest on August 8th. Let me know how I did. Thanks again for reading and please leave a review to let me know what you do or don't like.


	6. Chapter 6

I have received no response regarding the new writing style, therefore I shall continue using it. There won't be a serious battle with Will in this chapter, but there is one coming soon. Without any further delay, Chapter 6.

"Drago," Will heard Dan. "Drago!" Will sat up and looked at the now awake Dan.

"Nightmares?" Will asked. He knew the answer already.

"Yeah," Dan responded, out of breath. "Sorry to wake you."

"It's not like he was getting sleep anyway," Ace had apparently walked in at that moment with Mira and Baron.

"Why is this suddenly about me?" Will lifted his arms in a disbelieving manner.

"Because you and Dan both nearly lost friends," Shun, the ever silent ninja, had gotten out of bed as well. Will silently cursed Dan, if he hadn't had that nightmare, Will could've been studying Tripod Theta again.

"And that means we just have to train harder," Dan declared defiantly. "Drago, Will, let's go train."

"Not a good idea," Mira objected.

"Drago!" Dan called for his best friend. "Anybody seen Drago?"

Will looked around, "And where's Leo?"

Leo was easy to find, for some reason he liked being around food. Will never understood why a Bakugan would like being around human food. Will, Shun, and Ace had gone to find Leo, while Dan, Baron, and Mira had gone off to find Drago. Will still didn't know why Shun and Ace accompanied him, he was perfectly capable of finding Leo on his own.

Will, Baron, and Dan battled outside, Will not very interested.

"Ability: Activate," Will ordered. "Aquos Vortex." Abis Omega loosed a water spout at Drago. The dragon dodged the spout and several of the light beams launched Nemus.

"Ability: Activate!" Dan shouted. "Burning Dragon!" Drago loosed a fireball at Nemus and Abis. Will smiled as his plan came to fruition.

"Bakugan Trap, Tripod Theta: Stand," Will tossed Tripod Theta into the air just as Abis was defeated by Drago, lowering Will's Life Force from 50% to 20%. The giant Bakugan stood, Baron nodding at Will in recognition of what he was doing.

"Bakugan Trap, Piercian: Stand," Baron threw a Haos Trap Bakugan into the sky, the Bakugan seemingly built of bricks.

"Ability: Activate," Will commanded. "Live Ripple." The energy bodies of Abis, Freezer, and Atchabee appeared in front of Tripod Theta, Piercian, and Nemus. _Tripod Theta and Piercian Power Level Increase by 3-0-0 Each._

"Double Ability: Activate!" Dan yelled. "Burning Dragon plus Burning Tornado!" Drago launched another fireball, this one followed by a tornado of flame. It flew extremely fast at Nemus, completely ignoring the Trap Bakugan and the energy bodies. Nemus fell to this fiery attack and returned to ball form.

"Double Ability: Activate," Will ordered. "Ventus Storm plus Darkus Burst." Tripod Theta released a tornado of green wind directly at Drago, which of course was easily dodged by the dragonoid. However, branching from that attack was a burst of darkness that struck Drago directly in the back.

"Ability: Activate!" Dan commanded. "Fire Tornado." Drago summoned a tornado around himself and flew into both Tripod Theta and Piercian, ending the fight and taking both Will and Baron out of the fight. This battle definately provided Will with more data about Tripod Theta's brawling capabilities, which was a victory in itself. He had gotten around suffering Ace's wrath and had further progressed his research. Too bad his nightmares kept him from sleeping when he actually tried.

When Ace came down to the kitchen that morning, she saw Will, of course. His nightmares can't last forever, can they? Ace still wasn't sure how that late-night battle with Dan and Baron had affected him, but it couldn't have done any good now that he appeared to be falling asleep into his pancakes.

"Those must be some boring pancakes," Ace commented, causing Will to jerk back into his chair with some whipped cream on his chin. She knew it could've been worse, he could have had his full face touching the pancakes, rather than just his chin.

"Did you honestly need to do that?" Will asked, clearly out of breath. She looked at him curiously.

"Did I actually sneak up on you?"

"Only Shun can do that to me," Will looked away, brow furrowed.

"So you just did that to spare my fragile ego?" Ace asked dubiously. Will said nothing and started cutting his pancakes. "That's what I thought." She grabbed a fork and sat across from him. "I think you made too many," Ace pointed to the stack of six pancakes.

Will sighed, "Numbers have started getting fuzzy, so 3 cups turns into 8, 2 becomes 5, so on and so forth." He shook his head as if to clear it and continued cutting the pancakes, hands shaking. Ace shook her head in disapproval and retrieved two plates, placing one in front of Will and one in place across from him.

"Let me," Ace gently took the knife and plate from him, looking to see what pattern he was cutting in. She tilted her head before cutting the pancake into sixths, following the cuts he had already made. Ace gave him half and put half on her own plate, making sure the pieces that had touched his chin were on his plate.

"Thanks," Will looked shaky, but he was avoiding her gaze. Could he have gone back up to the roof after the battle? No, he couldn't be that messed up, could he?

"How did you sleep?" Ace asked.

"The nightmares are still there if that's what you mean," Will responded, still not looking at her.

"Who was it?"

Will mumbled into his pancakes, stabbing one piece and eating it.

"Who?" Ace insisted. She leaned her head closer, trying to conceal her concern.

Will ate some more of his pancakes and didn't respond.

Ace sighed and leaned back into her chair, eating more of her pancakes. He'd tell her eventually. Will couldn't ignore her for pancakes when he ran out of them. They ate their pancakes in silence, Ace finishing first, then waiting in agonizing silence for him to finish. When he finally did, she quickly put everything in the sink, unwilling to wait any longer than she had to.

Will finally opened his mouth to tell her just before Dan and Baron came marching down to the kitchen. He quickly shut his mouth when he heard their footsteps. Ace stamped her foot in frustration, why was he so difficult to get talking?

About an hour later, Will was in the briefing room with Shun, Mira, Ace, and Baron, honestly not giving two shits about whatever Mira and Ace were arguing about. While Mira's brother was probably a great person and brawler, it'd be better to take the Dimension Controllers down. Besides, if they take down the Dimension Controllers, he's bound to notice and find them if he is as great as Mira says.

While those two bickered, Will cast a glance over to Drago, who had just been snatched by Dan's hand. Will nudged Shun and pointed at Dan, who was currently poorly hiding.

"Where are you going, Dan?" Shun asked exasperatedly. Everyone looked at Dan except for Ace and Mira. Those two must have been in a world of their own.

"I was challenged by Gus to a battle," Dan nervously lifted up a small mechanical wasp-like thing.

"Without telling anyone?" Will asked. "Even in my state I wouldn't do that."

"We fight together," Shun reminded. "Bring us with you."

"Alright," Dan agreed. "Let's go guys."

They followed the mechanical bug to an open field, where there were a few pillars of rock around. Gus looked up at them as they arrived.

"You made it," Gus was slightly surprised. "And you brought back-up."

"We honestly had nothing better to do," Will admitted.

"I hope you've been practicing, Gus," Dan taunted. "'Cus I'm not going easy."

Their battle was interrupted halfway through by Spectra, who was countered by Shun stepping in. The battle ended quickly after that, Shun using Ingram and Trap Hylash to take out Vulcan and the Bakugan Spectra had used. Will could not tell who won the battle after it had finished, but something inside of Drago snapped, causing him to release waves of what appeared to be energy from the Perfect Core.

The six of them chatted in the control room. More like Mira and Ace made up about their argument while Dan and Shun talked about what they had done since defeating Naga. Will stood over Baron's shoulder and tried to make out what everything did. He blinked and shook his head, trying to get the numbers to solidify into something readable.

Will gave up and looked out the front window. He lightly hit Dan on the shoulder and pointed at the glass dome structure.

"Is that Alpha City?" Dan asked.

"That it is, Dan," Shun responded.

How did you guys like Ace's perspective? It took me a little while to decide on how I wanted it to sound but I think I like the way it came out. Please review with suggestions and comments.


	7. Chapter 7

I received another review from a guest.

Guest on August 13: Thank you for your input, his battle was more of a relaxed training session than anything else. Do you remember what they do to choose who battles together? Yeah that's going to throw a wrench or two into Will's plans to gather materials for the device.

Without further delay, here's Chapter 7:

The six of them walked into the large metal tube with giant spinning fans.

"This duct goes underground," Shun explained. "And comes up inside the city."

"Does anyone else find this kinda cliché?" Will asked.

"It's not cliché," Dan argued. "It's a classic."

"Let's go," Shun jumped down, hopping down from fan to fan, ever the graceful ninja. Baron was so infatuated by the ninja's skill that he attempted to do the same, however he didn't quite grasp that a ninja was graceful and generally quiet.

Will looked at Ace and gestured forwards, "Ladies first."

"Yeah right," Ace sassed. She grabbed Will by the shoulder and jumped, taking him with her. Will sighed, he pretty much figured this would happen. Of course _she_ would be the one to do this.

They landed in a horizontal passageway, Ace had a few bruises on her arms and legs, Will however, felt as though he had just lost a fight with the friggin' Hulk.

"That wasn't so bad," Ace stated, observing the marks on her skin.

"Speak for yourself," Will groaned from the floor of the duct. What next? Is Dan going to land on him now? Suddenly he was dragged away from the duct as Dan fell right on where Will had been.

"Thanks Ace," Will thanked her as she helped him up. "But maybe next time I'll lead."

She laughed, "Whatever happened to ladies first?"

"I've rethought exactly how effective that is when there are _giant rotating platforms_."

When Mira landed, they began their trek forward, Shun taking point, Dan right behind him, Baron and Ace on either side of Will, and Mira bringing up the rear. Leo hopped out of Will's pocket and onto his shoulder.

"And where exactly have you been all this time?" Will asked him.

"I've been exploring the tank over the past few days," Leo explained. "They have a ventilation system that goes to every room. It could be very useful or harmful in the future."

"Leo, are you talking about what I think you are?"

"Yes, anything the size of a Bakugan or smaller can fit through easily."

"That can be a great way to hide you guys in case of an emergency." Will winked at him to make sure the two of them were on the same page. Yes the ventilation system would be a very good way to tell if someone was trying to sneak up on him.

The six brawlers finally made it into Alpha City. The buildings were nowhere near as cool as the tank, but they did have some aspect of originality to each. Will didn't have much time to take note however, because the air duct apparently let out in the middle of the street. Dan, of course, was a bit slow to react, having to stay on the line between lanes.

Ace and Will walked through a building reminiscent of a mall on Earth. Will, of course, had no money whatsoever. Mira had taken off, while Shun, Dan and Baron were just a few feet ahead of them.

"Ace, can I borrow some money?" Will asked nervously. Why did she have to be the one with him? Then again, Ace would be more likely to lend him money than Mira or Baron, so it wasn't all bad.

"Sure," Ace handed him a bunch of small metal bars. "That should buy whatever expensive thing you need."

"Thanks." Will turned and walked into a few stores, buying wires, metal tubing, small fans, and other assorted parts. The shopkeeper only took 3 of the 12 metal bars he had. Apparently his 'expensive things' were relatively inexpensive.

Will went through his mental list again, antennae, tubing, fans, buttons, wires, the only thing left was something that can manipulate dimensional energy. For some reason he didn't think he'd find that in a general store.

Will returned to Ace and handed her the money he didn't use.

"You bought a bunch of junk," Ace shook her head. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Because you know me so well."

"If you build something that gives away our position to the Vexos, I'm going to have Percival blast it to bits."

"I can live with that."

The six of them regrouped near the Tournament sign-ups.

"I'm ready to take on some Vestals," Dan stated. "What's the plan?"

"We're going to play this smart," Mira explained. "We'll do this in two teams, one team will battle until the end and increase the energy in the Dimension Controller to maximum capacity so that the other team can shut down the energy dispersal system, causing the whole thing to blow up. To do this, we need someone to brawl and lose in the first round, so that the rest of the team can slip in and get to the release system."

"Well, you guys have fun with that," Will said cheerfully. "But I think I'm going to sit this one out." He had seen something that might have had enough control over dimensional energy to be able to serve as a catalyst to get the machine to do what it needs to.

"Oh no you're not," Mira argued. "This requires six people, because without the sixth person, we won't be able to either gather enough energy or quickly take out any guards that try and stop us." Will grumbled that he wasn't going to be much help, but whatever. "We're going to draw straws to see who does what. If you get one of the same length as one other person, you battle to build energy. If you get one that matches nobody else's, you have to lose and let the rest of us in, got it?" The other five nodded.

Will walked out of the male brawler locker room with a face mask that looked like Darkus symbol, the top covering his eyes and forehead, with his cheeks having one purple length each and one on his nose.

He walked around and found Ace in a mask that looked like a purple and black version of Spectra's, but with both eyes. She looked very attractive, but Will would never tell her that. Why wasn't he the one who got to lose? At least Will wasn't exhausted today.

"Let's do this," Ace encouraged.

"Should be easy for you," Will nodded.

The announcer did what his job title entailed, "Welcome Brawlers to today's Bakugan Battle Tournament! We're counting down the seconds to the first throw! Who's ready to beat the heat, and who will be smacked down in cold defeat?"

Ace had already thrown Percival in at 450 G's. Their enemy threw in a Pyrus Furious, standing at 350 G's.

"Ability: Activate!" He commanded. "Arean Cema!" Furious's staff burst into flame and it charged at Percival.

"Extinguish flame!" Ace yelled. "Ability: Activate, Darkus Driver!" Percival spiraled toward Furious, slamming into him and returning him to ball form.

"Bakugan Brawl!" the other rolled a Subterra Bakugan onto the card. "Subterra Flybeetle: Stand!"

"Ability: Activate," Will commanded. "Tau Twister." Leo roared and caused a tornado of darkness to swirl around him, lowering Flybeetle's power by 200 G's, and drawing the Subterra Bakugan into the dark spiral, returning it to ball form.

"Oooh! That's the way the Bakugan rolls!" The announcer yelled into the mike. "These brawlers pack a serious punch! They're the team on everyone's lips, the Bakugan Brawlers!" Finally, someone used an idiom Will never heard of.

The second round started on an enemy card. Instead of using Leo, Will chose Freezer, just so the enemy had as little advantage as possible.

"Ability: Activate!" Ace commanded. "Darkus Driver!" That again, really?

"Freeze Jam." Will complemented her ability by freezing Percival's target in place.

"I didn't need that," She complained as Percival slammed into his target.

"The faster we beat these guys, the faster we get to the more powerful brawlers."

"Fine."

The pair threw a Pyrus Geldin and a Subterra Rafflesian. The 700 G's combined presented a bit of a challenge, but nothing he and Ace couldn't overcome.

"Ability: Activate," Ace was a bit more calm now. "Tri-gunner." At least it wasn't Darkus Driver again.

"Ability: Activate," Will commanded. "Correlation between Haos and Darkus." The two Bakugan glowed their respective colors and Percival's Tri-Gunner was amplified, taking out both in one shot.

"Once again the battle goes to the Bakugan Brawlers!" Will wondered if this guy liked his job.

"Nicely done with the Haos and Darkus correlation," Ace complimented.

"Switching it up so that they wouldn't expect Tri-gunner was awesome," Will returned the compliment.

Once back in the waiting room, they watched Baron's battle. Baron was using a Haos Geldin and, as according to plan, he failed hard, nearly losing Geldin in the process. But from then on was Baron's job, Will had another battle to win.

"This is it folks!" The announcer called out. "This is the semifinals to decide who gets to brawl against Link and Volt in the Finals. Can the Dark Angels team of Annie and Vanessa cruise to victory over the upstart Bakugan Brawlers?" The crowd went wild. Will was ready for this, more ready than he had been for any battle before. He was going to stomp these Vestals. "Let the battle begin!"

"Gate Card: Set," the one with purple hair set a card and rolled a Haos Bakugan onto it. "Bakugan Stand: Haos Anchorsaur!"

"Bakugan: Brawl," The other rolled her bakugan onto the field. "Haos Hammersaur, Stand!"

"Gate Card: Open!" The first called out. "Haos Reactor!" _Haos has a diagonal relationship with Ventus_ , Will thought. _I can use Abis and Atmos to-_

"Use me!" Leo shouted from Will's shoulder.

"Are you sure?" Will asked. "I don't know if we can-"  
"Listen to me," Leo interrupted him. "We are a team, we fight together, and we might be able to destroy the Dimension Controller here and now. Put me in!"

Will nodded and rolled Leo onto the field, "Bakugan: Stand, Darkus Leonidas!"

"Percival, Stand!" Ace yelled as Percival stood. _Hammersaur and Anchorsaur Power Level at 5-0-0 G's each. Percival and Leonidas Power Level at 4-5-0 G's each._

"Our thunderous semifinal matchup is off to a roaring start!" The announcer exclaimed. Percival and Leo charged the enemy Bakugan, being dodged and counterattacked.

"Ability: Activate," Will ordered. "Nu Nullifier." Leonidas roared and flew into the air. His body crackled with purple energy before he dove directly at the ground, smashing the Haos Reactor card. _Hammersaur and Anchorsaur Power Level Decreased to 4-0-0 G's._

"Darkus Driver!" Ace activated an ability. This again? Percival drew his cape around himself and spun, charging at the two Bakugan.

"Ability: Activate!" His opponents activated their abilities at the same time. "Spark Protection!"

"And Mirror Ghost!"

"Not so fast!" Will shouted. "Ability: Activate, Tau Twister!" Leo gathered energy and made the powerful tornado, sucking in Hammersaur. Percival bounced off of Anchorsaur and flew directly into the tornado, causing both he and Hammersaur to return to their brawling partners. The tornado died and Will's gauntlet gave him an update: _Leonidas Power Level at 4-5-0 G's. Anchorsaur Power Level at 4-0-0 G's._

"Ability: Activate!" the blue haired one yelled. "Light Burst!" _Anchorsaur Power Level at 6-0-0 G's._ Anchorsaur let out a roar and sent twin bursts of light from his chest and into Leo, causing him to return to ball form. _Ace and Will Life Forces 95%. Annie Life Force 90%._

"Wow!" Announcer man exclaimed. "That was amazing! Due to quick thinking, Tau Twister took 200 G's from Hammersaur, but Spark Protection reflected the attack onto Percival, causing the move to backfire! Only the quick reflexes on the Annie's part was able to take out Leonidas! Brilliant!"

"Just give up!" Annie taunted, her voice being projected by a microphone. "You guys are over!"

"But don't feel bad, you fashion rejects aren't really worthy of fighting the Vexos." Will looked at them, feeling a fire in his body. "Once we win, we'll become the newest Vexos!"

"And the newest superstars in New Vestroia!"

"Got it all planned out huh?" Ace asked rhetorically. "It's a little early for a victory parade, 'cus you're about to lose!"

"I hear a bug buzzing."

"Let's squash it!"

"Gate card set!" Will exclaimed. The Darkus Reactor will boost their power up by 100, and then they can use Leo to distract. "Let's go ladies! Stand, Leo!" The Bakugan rose, ready for a fight.

"Percival, Stand," Ace rolled her Bakugan onto the field. Percival nodded at the other two Bakugan. _Total G-Power at 9-0-0 G's._ The other two rolled out their Hammersaur and Anchorsaur.

"I'll distract them," Will told Ace. "Then you attack from behind."

"I like this plan," Ace smiled at him.

"Ability: Activate!" Will yelled. "Chi Controller!" Leo rose higher into the air and sent a dark beam at both, causing them to stagger. Their eyes turned purple and they charged at Leo, however neither could reach him. _Hammersaur and Anchorsaur Power Levels Decreased to 3-0-0 each. Leonidas and Percival Power Levels Increased to 6-5-0 each._

"Ability: Activate!" Vanessa looked confused as the ability did not work. "What?"

"Did I mention that Chi Controller is a special ability that not only siphons 200 G's from all enemies and transfers it to all allies, but also prevents you from using abilities." Will smirked. "And just to add up a bit more power, Gate Card: Open, Darkus Reactor!" _Leonidas and Percival Power Levels Increased to 7-5-0 G's each._

"Ability: Activate!" Ace yelled. "Tri-Gunner!" Percival gathered three energy orbs, one in each gauntlet-head and his head. He combined these and fired the resulting energy at Hammersaur and Anchorsaur. _Percival Power Level Increased to 1-0-5-0._ The energy collided with the enemy Bakugan, turning them into ball form and sending them to Ace and Will.

"That card is off the chain!" Ace exclaimed as the two of them high-fived. "How come you don't use it that often?"

"I can't use ability cards while it's active either." Will explained as the platforms moved back into the walls of the arena. Ace waved to the crowd, enjoying the sweet, sweet victory. "It's almost hilarious how much like Dan you are."

"Do you think I'm a dim-wit?" Ace asked.

"Nah, just someone who revels in every step towards victory," Will smiled at her. Damn that mask looked good on her. He waved at the crowd as well, just not as enthusiastically as Ace did.

I decided to put episodes 7 and 8 together for you, just because I don't want to have two really short chapters. The next chapter will have more than just Will's perspective to increase the length.


	8. Chapter 8

Another review has been added.

Guest on August 14th: I have been partial to Will and Ace. I'll try to incorporate the rest of them, but it's difficult when I don't have a good feel for the character, or when it's Baron. Baron's just really hard to write for me, I don't know why, but every time I try writing from his perspective it doesn't turn out right when I reread it. Mira though, I've got her personality pinned down.

As always, review with your questions/suggestions. Now for your pleasure, Chapter 8:

Will's next opponents were Lync and Volt, he'd beaten them before, he had Ace in case he needed her or vice versa. Nothing had gone wrong yet. Knock on wood, except the Vestals don't seem to have wood, so Will was screwed.

He walked out of the locker room and fidgeted with his mask, hoping it was on center. There, apparently, were no mirrors in that locker room. Will walked over to where Ace was already standing.

"Your mask is crooked," Ace noted, reaching up and moving it slightly. "There you go."

"Thanks," Will smiled. He smoothed his hair and tugged on the bottom of his jacket. They'll have to keep this fight going as long as possible. He had already begun forming his strategy. Start with Darkus Hammersaur and Haos Anchorsaur, put up a good fight and let them lose. Do the same with Atmos and Abis, and then pull out Tripod Theta for the final battle. Whatever Ace does can't hurt. "Let's do this."

They walked out onto the tower, prepared to fight. Volt and Lync were in the other tower, also ready for battle. If the announcer had said something Will didn't notice. he had to set the gate first.

"Gate Card: Set!" Will yelled. "Bakugan Brawl! Haos Hammersaur, Stand!"

"Bakugan Brawl!" Ace rolled Percival onto the card. _Hammersaur 4-0-0 G's. Percival 4-5-0 G's._

"Bakugan Brawl! Altair Stand!" Lync rolled a strange Bakugan onto the card, it was green and silver, and when it stood, it was made almost entirely of metal. This thing was magnificent, it had two large wings with circles in them, it's neck was long and segmented, and it's tail ended in a metal fork. There was green on it, sure but not nearly as much as a natural Bakugan. The only word Will could even think about it was magnificent.

"Brontes, Stand!" Volt broke Will's stupor. This one was a natural Haos, and it had feet that looked like axe blades, long legs and arms, and a clown head. Will was going to need to keep on his toes this battle.

Dan ran down the hall with Mira, Shun, and Baron. They needed to get to the Dimension Controller, now. The battle with Volt and Lync was about to begin. He should have been out there, but it was too late for that now. They had already gotten past a shit-ton of guards and nearly got caught. Now Dan wasn't even sure if they were heading the right way.

They came to a door with a Vestal symbol on it. They went through and found something utterly disturbing. There were hundreds of small tubes with liquid in them. Which wouldn't be so bad if there weren't Bakugan floating inside them.

"Bakugan?" Dan questioned.

"What're they doing in there?" Baron inquired.

"They've been put into a state of suspension," Mira gasped.

"It's worse than I thought," Drago stated. This couldn't be happening, they deserved to be free.

"We've gotta smash that controller, now," Shun said forcefully.

"He's right," Mira agreed. "Which way, Baron?"

The lights came on as the door opened. Three green-clad Vestal guards barged in with weapons drawn. One yelled, "Freeze! This is a restricted area."

Hammersaur and Anchorsaur had just gone down, taking Altair with them. There was no point in leaving the gate unopened.

"Gate Card: Open," Will ordered, extending his arm. "Darkus Reactor."

"Can he even do that if he's no longer in the battle?" The announcer questioned, looking at his rulebook. "It appears there are no rules against this, so they're good to go!"

 _Percival Power Level 7-5-0 G's. Brontes Power Level 7-0-0._ Come on Ace, use this boost while you can.

"Ability: Activate!" Ace shouted. "Darkus Driver!" Not that one, Ace.

"Ability: Activate!" Volt countered. "Maniactus Magical!" Brontes laughed as Percival stopped spinning. _Percival Power Level Decrease to 5-5-0 G's._ _Brontes Power Level 9-0-0._ Come on, Ace, don't lose your life points here! Will didn't need this, he didn't need this at all. "Ability: Activate! Ghost Cell!" Brontes gave out a maniacal laugh and sent out a ghostly visage of a woman in a long hooded cloak, which latched onto Percival. _Percival Power Level Decrease to 4-5-0 G's._

"Here comes back-up!" Will yelled as he rolled Abis onto the card. "Ability: Activate! Aquos Vortex!"

"Kids or no kids, you are traitors, and will be treated that way," The apparent leader of the three guards stated. This guy just wouldn't shut up. "So _why_ don't you just confess?" He was starting to get on Shun's nerves.

"To what?" Mira retorted. "Trying to free the Bakugan and give them back their home?"

"Enough!" This guy was more impossible than Dan.

"Everything you believe in is a lie!" Dan yelled at them.

"Open your eyes fools!" Drago lept onto Dan's shoulder and shouted at the guards. "New Vestroia belongs to the Bakugan! We're fighting to free them, and their land."

"A… Talking Bakugan?" The guards were as dumbfounded as Dan was the last time the two of them had been in a math class together.

"That's impossible!" His fellow guard exclaimed.

"If it were impossible," Shun was cutting the crap. "Would all our Bakugan be speaking to you?" As if on cue, Ingram, Wilda, and Nemus hopped onto the shoulders of their companions, yelling at the guards to see the truth. Sadly, instead of facing the truth, the guards turned and ran, leaving their weapons behind.

"Now we've scared them off," Dan sounded sorely disappointed. "How are we going to escape now?"

"Well, Dan we've got some options," Shun answered after using his ninja skills to escape from the ropes binding them.

"I love you, Shun," Dan looked confused, as though he didn't realize what he had said as the ropes fell slack around them all. Shun stared at him, not quite sure what he meant.

Mira, thankfully, broke the tension in the air by clearing her throat.

"Let's go smash that controller, then."

Abis and Atmos were doing quite well in aiding Percival. And although both Will and Ace were down to 50%, so were the Vexos. Will watched as Brontes' Reaper-like scythe cut through Abis, Atmos still trying to dodge the blasts sent from Altair.

"Bakugan Brawl!" Will tossed in Leo. "Ability: Activate, Omicron Orb!" Leo gathered the orb between his hands and fired it at Altair, who took the hit and fell to the ground. The Mechanical Bakugan rose up from the ground, shaking off the hit.

"Ability: Activate!" If Ace says Darkus Driver, Will's gonna rip his mask off. "Darkus Driver!" Will ripped his mask off and threw it onto the floor of the tower. Percival charged Brontes. Will barely noticed as Atmos returned to his feet, taking his life force down to 20%.

"Ability: Activate!" Volt yelled. "Aurora Dimension!" The field gained an aurora overhead, mesmerizing the crowd as Brontes and Dynamo combined their power levels. _Brontes and Dynamo Combined Power Level 1-0-0-0 G's. Altair Power Level 6-5-0 G's. Leonidas Power Level 6-5-0 G's. Percival Power Level 8-5-0 G's._

"Ability: Activate!" Will shouted. "Alpha Blaster!" Leo rose into the air, charged the purple energy, and fired at Altair. That Trap Bakugan may have been combined with Brontes, but he could definitely take him down if Altair was gone. _Leonidas Power Level Increase to 8-5-0 G's._ Altair returned to ball form, taking Lync's life force down to 30%.

"Ability: Activate!" Don't use Darkus Driver, Ace. "Night Explorer!" Finally. _Brontes and Dynamo Combined Power Level 7-0-0 G's._ Brontes and Dynamo returned to Volt's feet.

"One more round, Ace," Will sighed as he high-fived her. "Let's hope that they've done their part."

"Just build the power for as long as possible." Ace reassured him. "We'll know as soon as the crystal blows." Will nodded. Come on, guys, shut down the dispersal.

"We're running out of time," Dan panted as the four of them ran down the halls. "Will and Ace won't be able to keep the battle going much longer." No shit, Dan.

Mira was starting to get tired of running through the halls. She was about to ask Baron if he was sure they were going the right way, when they ran into a bunch of guards. They were definitely going the right way.

"Shun, you go on ahead," Mira ordered. "We'll hold them off."

"Take this, Master Shun," Baron tossed Shun the map.

"Thanks," Shun said. He ran down the hall, a complete and total blur to all of them. Mira ran directly into the Vestals with a computer cart, Baron tackled a few, and Dan started hitting the guards.

Shun ran down the hall, checking the map a few times as he went. The next door on his left, that was where he needed to be. Shun silently slipped through the door and saw the control room. It was rather unimpressive, just a lit up pillar in the center with a big lever. Shun rolled a smoke bomb out, just to see if there were any lasers. In fact, there were, but there was a convenient hole through which he could throw Ingram.

"Ready Ingram?" He asked, nodding his head toward the gap in the lasers.

"Always, Shun," The feminine voice always reminded him of what his mission was. Shun grabbed the ball off his shoulder and threw it directly through the gap, striking the lever. Suddenly the lasers died and the glowing lights stopped.

Will felt a change in the air while he and Ace battled on his card. It felt more charged than before. He smiled and looked at Ace, she was smiling back. Time to let loose.

"Bakugan Trap, Tripod Theta, Stand!" Will tossed Tripod Theta into the air.

"Falcon Fly!" Ace threw the Trap Bakugan into the air.

"Double Ability: Activate!" Will shouted. "Tau Twister, plus Live Ripple!" In front of Tripod Theta appeared the energy bodies of Abis, Atmos, Hammersaur, and Anchorsaur. Leo created a tornado around himself, and sucked in Dynamo and the Mechanical Bakugan that just entered the battle. They returned to the feet of the Vexos. _Leonidas Power Level 6-5-0. Tripod Theta Power Level 7-5-0. Percival and Falcon Fly Combined Power Level 9-0-0 G's. Altair Power Level 6-5-0. Brontes Power Level 7-0-0._

"Double Ability: Activate!" Ace yelled. "Tri-Gunner, plus Fly Enemy!" Falcon Fly carried Percival across the field to attack Altair and Brontes, Falcon Fly firing purple bolts from its mouth and Percival firing devastating beams of purple energy. Both Brontes and Altair returned to their respective owners. The crowd had gone silent at this decisive move, shocked as Volt and Lync's life forces dropped to zero each.

Will opened his Bakugan holder and released all the Bakugan out to the field as they changed into their warrior forms. The crowd began panicking at the freed Bakugan, the ceiling falling making it no better. Will watched as the Bakugan immediately stopped the falling parts of the domed roof.

After a few hours, the Bakugan were released to go their separate ways. Will was standing on Leo's shoulder, talking to as many Bakugan as he could gather.

"I won't force you to do anything," Will made his case to the 12 Bakugan. "But if you don't want to come help free your fellow Bakugan, I won't pass judgement, you've all been through so much." Will fell to one knee and bowed his head to the 12 Bakugan around him. "It would be my personal honor to have your help in fighting the Vexos and freeing your brothers and sisters." Will waited for a response. It wasn't the best speech he had given, but it got his point across well enough.

The Bakugan who stayed were Ventus Atmos, Subterra Flybeetle, Darkus Hammersaur, Haos Anchorsaur, and Pyrus Freezer. Like Will said, not his best speech ever.

Will sat on Leo's neck as the tank rolled out, the fleet of Bakugan following close behind. He smiled at the breeze through his hair. They flew behind the tank for a long time, letting the moments last. After a few miles, Will noticed something flying out of the east.

"Guys, there's an Aquos-" Will spoke into his phone, which he had wired to the control room's speakers. "No, Pyrus-no, Haos. It's a Bakugan, and it's coming from the east, that's all I know. Stop the tank, we should see what it wants."

I received a review in the middle of writing this, so I'm putting it at the end. It came from xXReiHideoHiwatariXx:

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I really like my plan for Leo's evolution. Also, he'd be far too overpowered if I evolved him. There are many plans for Leo, one of which involving where he was created.

Please leave reviews with suggestions/comments/questions and I will respond to them. Bonus Chance: If you can guess correctly which Bakugan is coming from the east, I'll give you all virtual high-fives.


	9. Chapter 9

Please review with your suggestions/comments. Have fun with Chapter 9:

The Bakugan in the distance picked up speed when it realized that the tank had stopped. The Bakugan landed, it had Preyas' head, white wings on his back, a white sash, and small wings on his arms. His body was much like Preyas, but with yellow/white accents.

"Hello, Angelo," Drago greeted the Bakugan. "It's been a while."

"Greetings," Angelo had a very smooth voice. "I assume that was you who freed us."

"Yes, it was," Leo confirmed.

"Wanna help us?" Will offered.

"Of course," Angelo replied. "But you may have to ask Diablo." The Bakugan flew far above their heads until he was merely a silhouette. This must have been entirely for show. When the Bakugan returned to the rest of them, he was a red version of Angelo, with bat-like wings and horns.

"Of course I'd like to stick it to those damn Vexos!" Diablo yelled, his voice much more gravelly. "I'll go with you," he pointed to Will. "I like Leo, so don't read this any other way."

"Alright then," Will wasn't about to argue with a Bakugan while it was in warrior form. Diablo joined the rest of the Bakugan following the tank. The tank got moving once more, going full speed to Beta City, this time with Will in the tank.

The next day, he stood in the control room, sitting in one of the chairs with a moniter, Ace leaning over his shoulder.

"Are the numbers still fuzzy?" Ace asked.

"No," Will shook his head, for once not clearing his head. "I didn't have the nightmare either." The numbers were actually very clear, and his mind was able to race for longer periods of time.

"That's great," Ace put a hand on his shoulder. She pointed to different boxes and circles, explaining what everything did. Circles controlled speed, boxes toggled things, and red triangles were warnings.

Will felt a shift in the air and stiffened. "We just crossed into range of the Beta Controller," He informed.

Ace checked the map and stopped the tank, "How could you tell?" She held a hand up, preventing him from responding. "Wait, that reminds me, I noticed you searching through rubble for something back at Alpha," She fished something out of her jacket pocket. "Was it something like these?" She held out two chunks of the Dimension Controller crystal roughly the size of Bakugan in their ball form.

"Yes it was," Will's eyes went wide as he held out his hands to hold them. She dropped them into his hand. "These are perfect, Ace," He got up and gazed at her. "Thanks feels so inadequate, but it's all I can think of right now." Will put them in his pocket and suddenly he had his arms around Ace. She seemed surprised, Will could feel it as she put her arms around him.

Dan suddenly burst through the door, causing the two of them to jump away from each other. "Why'd we stop?" He asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Oh yeah," Will rushed past Dan and out the door. He ran outside and gathered his Bakugan allies.

"Anybody have objections to the belt?" Will asked.

"It was actually quite uncomfortable," Hammersaur responded, his voice sounding like a wolf's growl.

"Alright, I've got an alternative," Will placed them in an inside pocket of his jacket. "How's that?"

"Much better," Hammersaur answered. Will put Tripod Theta, Angelo, and Leo in a chest pocket. He walked back inside as the rest of the brawlers gathered up their Bakugan. Will gathered up the materials from his room and began building the device from memory.

"Are you sure you remember it right?" Leo questioned.

"It looks weird to me," Diablo commented.

"I remember it, ok," Will responded. He did remember it, Will _was_ there after all. "It functions like a radio, so I just need to build it, then you can criticize, ok?"

"Fine," Diablo and Leo grumbled. The two of them rolled away, probably to hang out in the fridge.

After a few hours of working, Will had used only one of the crystals Ace gave him and had some left over metal. Essentially, what he had built was a radio sized walkie-talkie. Granted it did work across dimensions, but still a walkie-talkie.

Alright, this is the ultimate test of Will's machine, he reached over and held a button. "This is New Vestroia to Dr. Michael. Dr. Michael, do you read me?" Will enunciated his words extremely carefully and released the button.

"New Vestroia?" Will heard Dr. Michael's voice. "Is that you Will?"

"Yes it is, Doctor," Will responded. "I'm here in New Vestroia with Dan and Shun."

"That would explain why Runo, Marucho, and Julie are here. Let me get them over here."

"I'll get the others."

Will ran to the door, "Dan, Shun! You've gotta come see this!" He heard the heavy footfalls of Dan and assumed Shun was already in the room. Will turned and saw that, as predicted, Shun was already there.

"This it?" Shun didn't sound very impressed.

"What is it?" Dan panted as he entered the room.

"It's a Dimensional Communicator," Will explained. "Doctor Michael and I made one in Russia, and now I built this one." He held the button down. "Doctor Michael, I've brought Dan and Shun, do you have the others?" He released the button.

"Yes, we're all here," Will heard Alice. "It's good to hear your voice again, Will."

"It's good to hear you too, Alice" Will replied.

"Hey," Will heard Runo's screechy voice. "Dan! How could you leave us behind!"

"Yeah," Julie's voice came from the Communicator. "Not cool guys!"

"It was rather rude," Marucho's voice sounded like he was being pushed out of the way.

"Take it up with Drago," Will responded. "I wasn't exactly given a choice in the matter." He moved out of the way to let Shun and Dan work the machine. Will looked over his shoulder to see Ace standing in the doorway.

"So that's what you made with the junk you bought," Ace remarked.

"Cool, huh," Will responded. "It works just like a radio."

"So we could tune it in to Vexos channels?"

"In theory, yes, but we'd only get audio."

"Only in theory?"

"The Vexos aren't stupid, they probably use secure channels. And if we change it from its current frequency, it might not be able to reconnect to Earth."

"Alright," Ace looked over Will's shoulder. "I think they need you."

"Will, come over here," Dan ordered.

"I guess they do," Will replied in mock surprise. He turned around and faced them. "'Sup guys?"

"It's not working."

"Ah, shit. Move over, Dan," Will walked over to the Communicator, first shutting it off, then removing the metal plate from the front. "Let's see what I can do to make it better."

They stood in the control room for dinner, stopped for the night. Will was eating a granola bar, and surprisingly was quite satisfied. It had been so long since he felt this good. Will was going to make this last as long as possible.

"Dude, are you eating that granola bar," Ace asked. "Or are you _eating_ that granola bar?"

"Umm, both?" Will shrugged awkwardly.

"You seemed very… emphatic about eating it," Dan stated. Will shrugged as he heard Leo and Diablo laugh on either shoulder.

"So how long until we get there?" Will asked.

"A few days," Mira replied. "Maybe a couple more."

"Alright, that gives us time to practice," Will finished his granola bar and clapped his hands together once. "You up for it Diablo?"

"Always."

"And Angelo?"

"Of course."

"Let's go then," Will grabbed Dan and the two of them walked down from the control room to the outdoors. Gauntlets on both of their forearms, they stood ready to duel.

"Gauntlet: Power Strike!" Will and Dan started the battle. "Gate Card: Set!" The Pyrus card was set, Will knew what to do. He would open with Diablo and use some basic Pyrus moves to get a feel for Diablo. Haos if it's Angelo.

"Bakugan Brawl!" Dan rolled Drago onto the card. "Drago, Stand!"

"Bakugan, Stand!" Diablo stood on the card, ready for a fight.

"Ability: Activate," Will ordered. "Aquos Vortex." Diablo wickedly laughed as he launched a water spout at Drago. _Diablo Power Level Increase to 6-0-0 G's._

"Ability: Activate!" Dan shouted. "Burning Dragon!" Drago shot a fireball at the water spout, turning both into steam. _Drago Power Level Increase to 6-0-0 G's._

"Ability: Activate," Will commanded. "Pyrus Blast." Diablo cackled and sent a wave of fire with a flap of his wings. _1-0-0 G's Transferred to Diablo._

"Double Ability: Activate!" Dan yelled. "Tornado Barrier, plus Burning Tornado!" Drago burst into a fiery tornado, blocking the fire and slamming into Diablo, returning him to Will. _Drago Power Level 8-0-0 G's. Diablo Power Level 5-0-0 G's._

"Nice round, Dan," Will complimented. _Will Life Force: 50%._

"Eh, that could've gone either way," Dan smiled.

"Gate Card: Set," Will set the Aquos Reactor card. "Bakugan, Stand." This time it was Angelo. Drago rolled onto the card, as expected.

"Ability: Activate!" Dan shouted. "Burning Dragon!" Drago charged a fireball in his mouth and fired it at Angelo. _Drago Power Level 6-0-0 G's_.

"Double Ability: Activate," Will ordered with a grin. "Light Burst, plus Aquos Vortex." Angelo sent out the water spout to intercept the fireball and sent a burst of yellow energy at Drago by flapping his wings once. _Angelo Power Level 7-0-0 G's. Drago Power Level 5-0-0 G's._ "Now, Gate Card Open: Aquos Reactor!" _Angelo Power Level 8-0-0 G's._ Water flooded around the field, causing Dan and Will to jump onto the tank. The burst of yellow energy slammed into Drago, causing him to fall into the water and returning him to ball form.

"Great double ability," Dan commented. _Dan Life Force: 60%._

"Not too bad yourself," Will complimented. "Burning Dragon's a good ability."

"Gate Card: Set!" Dan threw the card and rolled Drago onto it. "Bakugan: Brawl!"

"Bakugan: Stand!" Will yelled as Diablo rose from ball form. Now it was time for more complexity. It seems that Diablo has very interesting abilities he can use. "Ability: Activate, Hot Ice." Diablo cackled, sending a massive ice spike wrapped in flame at Drago. _Diablo Power Level 6-0-0 G's. Drago Power Level 3-0-0 G's._

"Double Ability: Activate!" Dan roared. "Burning Dragon plus Burning Tornado!" Drago sent a fireball followed by a tornado of flame at Diablo. _Drago Power Level 7-0-0 G's. Diablo Power Level 4-0-0 G's._

"Double Ability: Activate," Will ordered. "Hellfire plus Devil Reflection." Diablo glowed red, spreading his wings and capturing the full force of Drago's attack. He glowed brighter as the fireball doubled in size and fired itself at Drago. _Diablo Power Level 9-0-0. Drago Power Level 4-0-0 G's._

"Ability: Activate!" Dan yelled. "Burst Shield!" Drago tried to block the incoming fireball, failing but returning to Dan. _Dan Life Force: 0._

"Good game, Dan," Will stuck his hand out to the Pyrus brawler. The two shook hands as a Vexos Ship flew overhead. Shit, it had burnt-orange markings. That could only mean the serpent had found them.

The ship descended 20 feet from the tank, landing smoothly. The cockpit opened and out came Gus. Even from this distance, Will could feel the penetrating gaze. He shuddered.

"I'll take this creep," Dan stated, readying his gauntlet. Will stuck his arm out in front of Dan.

"No, Dan," Will looked at him, deadly serious. "It's high time I teach this creep a lesson for what he did to Ace."

Dan nodded, "Just don't underestimate him, ok?"

"I can take him," Will readied his gauntlet and called out to Gus. "Let's not waste any time, Gus." Will spat the name out.

"Alright," Will could hear the smile behind his words. "Gauntlet: Power Strike!" And so, the battle began.

"Gate Card: Set," Will set a Darkus Card. "Leo, Stand!"

"Bakugan, Brawl," Gus's voice was steady, but with a hint of something else in it, something devious. He had something up his sleeve. "Subterra Premo Vulcan, Stand!"

"Ability: Activate," Will commanded. "Omicron Orb." Leo gathered the ball of purple energy between his hands and launched it at Vulcan. _Leonidas Power Level 6-5-0 G's. Premo Vulcan Power Level 5-0-0._

"Ability: Activate," Gus ordered as calmly as Will. "Viblow." Vulcan lifted his hands and punched the orb, breaking it. _Premo Vulcan Power Level 7-0-0 G's. Leonidas Power Level 4-5-0 G's._

"Ability: Activate," Will readied Anchorsaur. "Alpha Blaster." Leo soared into the sky and charged another energy ball. He fired it at Vulcan, distracting both he and Gus enough to allow Will to throw in Anchorsaur, combining the two power levels. _Leonidas and Anchorsaur Combined Power Level 9-0-0 G's. Premo Vulcan Power Level 7-0-0 G's._ When the ball hit Vulcan, it knocked him down and returned him to ball form. _Gus Life Force: 80%._

"Putting in a Bakugan last second," Gus commented. "Clever." Gus set the card and, unsurprisingly, used Vulcan.

"Leo: Stand!" Will yelled. Leo rose immediately into the air, circling Vulcan.

"Ability: Activate," Gus smiled knowingly. "Titan Knuckle." Vulcan launched a fist at Leo. _Premo Vulcan Power Level 7-0-0 G's. Leonidas Power Level 2-5-0 G's._

"Ability: Activate," Will ordered. "Beta Barrier." Leo raised a shield of purple energy, blocking the fist and sending it back to Vulcans arm. _Leonidas Power Level 5-5-0 G's. Premo Vulcan Power Level 5-0-0 G's._ "Ability: Activate, Tau Twister." Leo changed his shield into a tornado, sucking in Vulcan and spitting him back out. _Premo Vulcan Power Level 3-0-0 G's._

"Ability: Activate," Gus commanded. "Drill Impact." Vulcan launched his fist again, this time it spun into a drill. _Premo Vulcan Power Level 5-0-0 G's. Leonidas Power Level 3-5-0 G's._ The drill slammed into Leo, knocking him back into ball form.

"Gate Card: Set!" Will set an Aquos Reactor card. "Bakugan Brawl, Stand Pyrus Freezer." Gus paused before rolling Vulcan onto the card. Will watched the gears turn, trying to find an explanation for that move.

"Bakugan: Brawl," He rolled Vulcan onto the card.

"Bakugan: Brawl," Will rolled Angelo onto the card. "Ability: Activate, Triple Node of Aquos, Haos, and Pyrus!" Angelo and Freezer glowed with power. _Angelo Power Level 8-0-0 G's. Freezer Power Level 7-5-0 G's._ The two Bakugan charged, roaring at Vulcan.

"Ability: Activate," Gus commanded. "Pyrus Durance." Vulcan leaned over and fired orange blasts from his shoulders. _Triple Node Ability Nullified._ Damn it.

"Triple Ability: Activate," Will ordered. "Fire Wall, plus Light Burst, plus Aquos Vortex." Freezer called a fiery tornado around himself, blocking the orange bolts. Angelo created a water spout and infused it with light. He launched it at Vulcan, absorbing the bolts and slamming into him. _Angelo Power Level 8-0-0 G's. Premo Vulcan Power Level 3-0-0 G's._

"Ability: Activate," Gus commanded. "Heavy Aegis." Vulcan raised his arms, raising a wall of dirt to block the water spout. _Premo Vulcan Power Level 5-0-0 G's. Angelo Power Level 6-0-0 G's._ Light exploded in Vulcan's face, staggering him.

"Ability: Activate," Will ordered. "Light Water." Angelo gathered an orb of water and summoned light, creating a spiral pattern in the orb. He launched it forth, making it slam into Vulcan. _Angelo Power Level 7-0-0 G's. Premo Vulcan Power Level 4-0-0 G's._

"Double Ability: Activate," Will could hear Gus's smile again. "Titan Knuckle, plus Drill Impact." Vulcan launched both fists, one at Angelo and one at Freezer. Freezer, Will had forgotten about him. The fists began spinning, one ripping through the fire wall, the other slamming into Angelo. _Premo Vulcan Power Level 8-0-0 G's. Angelo Power Level 3-0-0 G's. Freezer Power Level 3-5-0 G's._

"Gate Card: Open!" Will shouted. "Aquos Reactor!" _Angelo Power Level 4-0-0 G's_.

"I'm… sorry, Will," Angelo said weakly, falling to his knees and returning to ball form, joining Freezer at Will's feet. He fell to his knees, picking up the fallen Bakugan. _Will Life Force 20%._

"Is that really your best?" Gus asked tauntingly. "If it was, you are sadly out of your league."

Will looked up at him and felt a fire in his chest. Gus was going to pay for everyone he hurt; Dan, Angelo, Freezer, and especially Ace.

"You should just give up now," Gus taunted. "And save yourself humiliation." Will picked himself up and glared at Gus. This goes beyond his friends, this was between Will and Gus.

"I believe it's your turn to set the Gate," Will watched Gus, Subterra Reactor, Titan Knuckle, Viblow, Heavy Aegis.

"Gate Card: Set," Gus rolled Vulcan onto the card.

"Leo, Stand," Will commanded.

"Ability: Activate," Gus ordered. "Titan Knuckle." Vulcan launched his fist at Leo.

"Double Ability: Activate," Will responded. "Alpha Blaster, plus Epsilon Enhancer." Leo rose into the air and fired an extremely large stream of energy from his mouth. Vulcan's fist was deflected into the ground, the beam striking Vulcan in the chest, staggering him. _Leonidas Power Level 6-5-0 G's. Premo Vulcan Power Level 7-0-0 G's._

"Ha," Gus laughed. "You call that a double ability? I'll show you true power." Gus slid two ability cards into his gauntlet. "Double Ability: Activate, Titan Knuckle, plus Drill Impact." Vulcan's fists both flew at Leo, spinning like drills. _Premo Vulcan Power Level 1-1-0-0 G's. Leonidas Power Level 2-5-0 G's._

"You want true power?" Leo roared as the fists flew directly at him, procuring a dark aura around himself. Will felt his cards grow heavy, so he pulled them out. One was glowing like the antithesis of Drago's Perfect Core Cards: it seemed to be sucking in light, just like Leo's aura. _Ability Card: Set._

"Doom Dimension Ability: Activate," Will commanded. "Delta Drain." Leo's aura became stronger as he raced to intercept the fists. He grabbed them and slammed them into Vulcan. Will watched in awe as Vulcan's power dropped at the same rate as Leo's increased. When the power levels finally stopped, his gauntlet spoke: _Leonidas Power Level 9-5-0 G's. Premo Vulcan Power Level 4-5-0 G's._ Leo roared and sliced at Vulcan.

"Gate Card: Open!" Gus yelled, too little, too late. Leo had already slashed Vulcan, sending them both to Will's open hand. He couldn't believe his own joy. He had taken Vulcan from Gus, Gus, the second-best Vexos brawler. Will looked over his shoulder and saw the entire Resistance behind him. Baron and Dan looked as shocked as he felt. Even Mira and Shun were stunned. Ace stared at him, not in surprise, but in fear. She was afraid, of _him_. Will turned and took a step toward them, they all stepped back.

"Guys," Will was at a loss for words. Ace ran back into the base, Dan and Baron backed up into the base until he couldn't see them anymore. Mira and Shun took a step forwards, maybe trying to talk, or maybe to take him down. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"It's difficult," Gus stated empathetically. "To be the one with power. It seems as though nobody understands, they either fear your power, or try and take it from you." He pointed at Mira and Shun. "They would seek to use you to their own ends. But you could be so much more. You have power, you could be one of the Vexos, take Shadow Prove's place, and maybe even be the best brawler in New Vestroia." Will looked at him and saw not what he wanted in Gus's eyes, but Gus's own ambition.

Mira stared in disbelief when she heard Will's voice. She couldn't believe what she saw, Will gave Vulcan back to Gus, he walked to Gus's ship with him, Will had made a deal with the devil. Possibly a permanent one.

Quite a few twists of plot here, aren't there? Please give feedback, I want to know how I did.


	10. Chapter 10

I received another review:

Guest on August 19th: Thanks for your feedback. Until I wrote it, I didn't see Will joining the Vexos. But doing so was far more convenient for what I have in store.

Enjoy Chapter 10.

Will watched Gus walk into the room, he had been told to wait. Will watched as Gus spoke to the other five Vexos. He was no longer dressed in his Resistance outfit, Will had changed into a unique outfit: a black long-sleeved shirt, black gloves, black pants and boots, and a cape that went almost fully around his body connected to a black hooded shoulder piece with black cloth that can be pulled up to his nose.

Gus gestured toward him, Will's signal to move into the light and next to Gus. Will did so and pulled off his hood. He looked at each face, Mylene's face scrunched up, Lync's mouth was agape, Volt's brow furrowed, Spectra smiled slightly, and Shadow's eyes were wide.

"What does this mean for me!" Shadow complained.

"It means you are no longer the top Darkus Brawler," Spectra laughed quietly. "Please reset and hand over your gauntlet."

"NO!" Shadow yelled and flailed. "I am the best Darkus Brawler! ME! ME! ME! ME!"

"I'll duel you for that position," Will calmly announced, speaking at last.

"Only if I get to use my new toy!"

"Yes you may," Spectra inclined his head. "And Gus, have the guards prepare two regular gauntlets." Gus nodded and left.

"Two?" Shadow questioned.

"Yes, you and Will must be on equal footing," Spectra explained. "Is there a problem?"

"No," Shadow grumbled, looking away. What a baby.

Ace threw a rock at the tree again. That ass Will had left her for Gus, Gus of all people. It was almost as though Gus was spitting in her eye. First he almost takes her Bakugan, now, he's taking her boyfriend.

Ace blinked. Boyfriend? What had prompted that? When had Will ever reciprocated her feelings? When had he ever made it known that he liked her? That didn't matter, Will had left her and the team after mercilessly taking Gus's Bakugan.

Will activated his gauntlet, calmly slipping the card in. He had been given the low-down on how power transitions work in the Vexos. The champion goes first, there are no life forces, you can only use your most powerful Bakugan, and it ends when either the challenger or the champion takes their opponent's Bakugan. Will had a feeling this wasn't going to be easy.

"Gate Card, Set!" The Vestal yelled. "Bakugan Brawl! Darkus Hades, Stand!" The Bakugan ball had a large head, two large wings, and two smaller heads. The Bakugan itself looked exactly like Hydranoid. Had Shadow taken Hydranoid and changed the ball form? No, that's improbable, Gus had told him that Prince Hydron had bronzed Skyress, Hydranoid, Gorem, Tigrerra, and Preyas.

"Leo, stand," Will ordered. "Ability, activate: Tau Twister." _Leonidas Power Level 4-5-0 G's. Hades Power Level 4-0-0 G's._ Leo created a tornado around himself, causing Not-Hydranoid to fly into the tornado. When the Bakugan was finally launched out of the tornado, there were many scales missing. This was definitely _not_ Hydranoid.

"Ability, Activate!" Shadow yelled. "Death Trident!" Hades charged up a ball of bright pink energy in each mouth. Will had seen the energy that Hydranoid uses too many times, and that was not it. _Hades Power Level 4-0-0 G's. Leonidas Power Level 1-5-0 G's._

"Double ability, activate," Will commanded. "Omicron Orb, plus Epsilon Enhancer." Leo gathered a large ball of purple energy in his hands and launched it. _Leonidas Power Level 5-5-0 G's._ The purple orb slammed into the pink stream, pushing it until no more resistance was met.

"Ah!" Shadow screamed as the orb slammed into Hades' chest. "Ability, Activate: Destroy Vanish!" The Bakugan had lost more scales, revealing metal underneath. It launched out little wires, drawing Leo in.

"No need to be gentle, Leo," Will reminded his Bakugan. "Ability, activate: Alpha Blaster."

"Excellent choice, Will," Leo complimented. He rose into the air, dragging Hades with him. Leo charged the ball of energy in his mouth, and fired the stream of purple, vaporizing the scales on its heads. _Leonidas Power Level 7-5-0 G's._ Hades released its grip on Leo, falling to the ground.

"Get up!" Shadow shouted. "Get up! Get up!"

"Ability, activate," Will commanded. "Tau Twister." Will watched as Hades was sucked into Leo's tornado, ripping off all scales and showing the full mechanical Bakugan; it was mostly silver, with black and purple accents. _Leonidas Power Level 7-5-0 G's. Hades Power Level 2-0-0 G's._ Both Bakugan flew into Will's hand once the tornado ceased.

Will saw Shadow fall to his knees, beaten. His usually animated face was blank, the spark of insanity in his eyes was now a fire. Will put his right arm diagonally across his own torso, bowing respectfully to Shadow. It wouldn't be right to just beat him and walk away. Will straightened and walked off, handing the regular gauntlet to the guard who held out his hand for it. He walked to the Vexos conference room, taking his place across from Spectra. Will fell to one knee, prepared for any question the Vexos gave him.

"Have you taken Shadow's Bakugan?" Spectra asked ceremoniously.

Will held up Hades.

"Do you pledge your services to Prince Hydron and King Zenoheld?"

"I do."

"And do you promise to protect the Vestal people?"

"I do."

"Then I name you to the Vexos, the most elite of all brawlers, as top Darkus Brawler." The center of the floor rose, a holder for each attribute was present, but the only one with a gauntlet was Darkus. Will stood and walked to his new gauntlet, taking it and equipping it to his right forearm. When he activated it, it gave him eight options: enhance Gate Cards, enhance Ability Cards, enhance defense of life force, enhance damage life forces of others take, increase Bakugan defense, increase Bakugan attack, increase Bakugan base power, increase Bakugan agility.

Will tapped the seventh option, increasing Leo's base power level to 550, and increasing Hades' power back to 600. Will walked back to his place with his head down, hood covering his face. Will smiled.

They hadn't left yet, hoping that Will might come back. Ace didn't need to give much convincing as to why. Mira walked back to where Gus's ship had been. Nobody could believe that Will left, and she was no exception. Mira already found the Aquos Gauntlet Will left behind, but a few feet away she saw Will's jacket. He must have taken it off on the ship. Mira knelt next to the jacket and flipped it over. Besides dirt, inside were the Bakugan Will had convinced to join him, including Angelo/Diablo and Tripod Theta.

"Thank you," Angelo said. "We have a message from Will."

"Yep," Diablo agreed. "He said that he couldn't leave without a clean conscience, so he only took Leo."

"Wow," Mira responded. "Here, come with me." She held her hands out and each Bakugan jumped into her hands. Mira looked around, for what, she didn't know. She saw a glimmer of sunlight on the ground. She walked toward it and picked up a locket.

The locket was silver with a rather long chain. She opened it and saw a picture of Will, Leo, and, she assumed it was Alice, around some sort of snowman. They looked like Will had just made a joke so bad it made her laugh. Mira wanted to throw it, but instead she put it with the Bakugan. Mira brought them all into the tank and put the Bakugan in her collection. She brought the locket to Dan's room and put it on Will's old dresser. Mira sighed and shook her head, why'd he leave that behind?

Will walked into his quarters, he had taken to keeping his hood up. He locked the door behind himself. He pulled his hood down and removed his shoulder piece. Will pulled out of his pocket the second piece of Alpha City's controller that Ace had given him. He was going to make good use of this.

"Sir, there's an urgent message from Spectra," A guard from outside called. Will reapplied his cape and slid the crystal back into his pocket.

"Put it through," Will ordered. Spectra's image appeared as a hologram.

"Prince Hydron has asked me to send you against the Resistance, don't fail. Take the Dragonoid if you can."

"Yes, Spectra," Will bowed his head. The image disappeared before Will unlocked and exited his room. Will put his hood back up, he wasn't going to go easy on them.

Will flew his new Darkus ship. It was nice, but he would have appreciated it more if his mission wasn't so… wrong. Will didn't think he could do this, but now was not the time for debate. The tank was heading towards him. He landed, giving the tank plenty of time to stop. His hood was already up, the cloth was pulled to the bridge of his nose, the only part of him that was visible were his eyes. Will stared out of the cockpit, watching the tank, waiting for it to stop. He readied his gauntlet and a special ability card.

Will opened the cockpit, exiting the ship slowly. He walked up to the now gathered Resistance. Will waited for them to speak first. He didn't need to wait long.

"Will?" Ace asked. Will pointed at Dan and raised his gauntlet.

"I think he wants to battle, me?" Dan questioned, looking around. "Well it's your funeral, buddy." Will and Dan activated their gauntlets at the same time. Will set the Gate first, Darkus Reactor of course. He rolled Hades onto the card silently. The Mechanical Bakugan rose in all its glory, but Will's focus was on Dan. Dan would open with Burning Dragon and Burning Tornado, but they would be in vain against Hades' moves.

"Bakugan Brawl!" Dan yelled. "Drago, Stand!" Will activated Photon Tail. Hades' tails maneuvered and fired at Drago. _Hades Power Level 6-0-0 G's. Neo Dragonoid Power Level 1-0-0 G's._

"Ability, Activate!" Dan shouted. "Fire Tornado!" Drago created a tornado of flame around himself, taking the laser blasts directly. _Drago Power Level 2-0-0 G's. Hades Power Level 5-0-0 G's._ Drago returned to ball form at Dan's feet. Will caught Hades. _Dan Life Force: 80%._

"Gate Card, Set!" Dan yelled. "Drago, Stand!" Will rolled Leo onto the card. Leo immediately flew at Drago, slashing with claws. "Ability, Activate: Burning Tornado!"

Leo flew away as Drago burst into a fiery tornado. _Neo Dragonoid Power Level 6-0-0 G's. Leonidas Power Level 3-5-0 G's._

Will activated Omicron Orb, Alpha Blaster, and Epsilon Enhancer. Leo flew into the air and gathered an orb on front of his chest, he fired it and then charged the power in his mouth, firing that into the orb, causing it to explode in front of Drago. _Leonidas Power Level 9-5-0 G's._

"Ability, Activate!" Dan yelled. "Strike Dragon!" Drago released waves of white energy specked with color at Leo. _Neo Dragonoid Power Level 1-0-0-0 G's. Leonidas Power Level 5-5-0 G's._

Will activated a new ability, Iota Ions. Leo gathered his dark aura and sent dark waves at Drago, the two sets of waves colliding with each other. _Leonidas and Neo Dragonoid Power Levels Equal._

This battle was lasting too long, but he didn't want to overload Leo. Will took out a special card and threw it at Drago. The card flew past Drago's head, distracting him enough to allow Leo an opening to strike. The card landed with Drago at Dan's feet. _Dan Life Force: 0_

Will's job here was complete.

Dan stood there watching as Will climbed back into his ship. He bent down and picked up Drago and the card Will threw. The card had the Darkus symbol on it. Why wasn't the card activated? Dan turned it over and saw writing, Will's handwriting.

"Guys," Dan called in disbelief as he read the card:

 _BBR,_

 _V monitoring coms. Only way to contact, apologies. Meet at the following coordinates in 5 days, only send 2. Sorry for the scare. Thought you might not want me back. Try to understand._

 _-W_

Please leave a review, let me know how you want the meeting to go.


	11. Chapter 11

I received three reviews, two of which by the same user:

StarWarsLover1998: Sorry for the scare, but I'm glad you're into the story. You'll just have to hold on to find the full reason Will is there.

Guest on August 22: Ace is female because there weren't enough women in the Resistance.

Notice: I won't be able to post as frequently after 9/9/15. I will most likely be able to post once a week on weekends. The writing quality will also probably increase by June, because school.

Without further adou, Chapter 11:

Will knelt before Prince Hydron. For some reason he expected the Prince of the Vestals to not seem like King Joffrey. Hydron was twirling his hair, waiting, probably trying to intimidate the black-clad brawler. Will had decided to wear the cloth mask. The cloth was actually made of fibers that filtered harmful particles from entering his lungs. Quite useful if he said so himself.

"So," Hydron finally spoke. "You fought the Resistance, defeated the Dragonoid, and yet I still have no Dragonoid!" The bratty prince rose from his throne. "You have _failed_ me! Do you understand what this means, Earthling? You have incurred my wrath! I will make your life a living hell!"

"Yes," Will groveled. "My Prince, I shall not fail you again." Will hated grovelling. This Joffrey-wannabe was exactly the kind of scum that Will _despised._ The only thing keeping him from lashing out was the fact that he needed to solidify his cover. He would wait, bide his time, Hydron was nowhere near the manipulator Will was.

"You had best hope not," Hydron warned. "You wouldn't like me angry."

"My Prince," Will spoke, looking up at the brat. "If I may be so bold, perhaps we require something more powerful to fight the Dragonoid. Something to tip the scales in our favor drastically." Bait set.

"More powerful?" Hydron laughed. "Do you have any idea how powerful we currently are? There is nothing we could possibly do to have _more_ power."

"'The only limits we have,'" Will quoted. "'Are the ones we place in our own minds.'" And there drops the hook. Will gave a final bow and left the room. From the look on Hydron's face, Will knew his plan was in motion.

"'Only send two'?" Ace asked. "Who the hell does he think he is?" Shun shook his head.

"He asked us to try to understand," Shun replied. "I think we should go along with it."

"What the hell happened to Leo, anyway?" Dan asked. "That last move he used matched Drago's power, it's like he uses the Perfect Core."

"It's the Doom Dimension," Shun stated. "That's where he was created, so it stands to reason that he could draw power from there, matching, or possibly eclipsing, Drago's power."

"You guys are missing something," Baron chimed in. "He didn't include coordinates."

"The only numbers in it are a 5, and a 2," Mira noted. "So maybe that has something to do with it."

"That's probably irrelevant," Ace stated. "He's just being a dick." Shun saw a connection.

"It's a stretch, but what cave entrance is exactly 5.2 miles from Beta City?" Shun asked.

Baron raced to the map, checking the map. He pointed to a small cave on the map.

Will walked into the Vexos conference room, the only others in the room being Spectra and Gus. He bowed his head in respect.

"Don't think we don't know what you're doing," Spectra pointed at him. "Manipulating Prince Hydron takes both skill and guts."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Will replied. Spectra gave a small laugh.

"Sure you don't," Spectra's voice oozed with sarcasm. "No doubt Gus warned you about who might be listening."

"I was never informed of such informants," Will kept his voice even. "I pledged my services to Prince Hydron and King Zenoheld, and have no intention of betraying them." Will bowed his head and left. That was almost a disaster, and with only 4 days until he had to go to meet whoever they sent to the cave he could afford no setbacks.

"So who's going?" Ace asked.

"We're not sending anyone who'll jump him," Mira stated pointedly.

"We should send someone level-headed and someone who has compassion," Shun suggested.

"Shun and I should go," Dan decided. Ace gave him a look.

"What gives you the right to go?" Ace asked.

"What gives you any more reason to accompany Shun than me?" The two deteriorated into arguing. Shun was reminded of Dan and Runo, how anyone thought they were a good couple was beyond him. All they did was yell at each other, rarely agreeing, and usually just ended in the two of them refusing to talk to each other for days.

"Mira and Ace would be best to send," Shun declared.

"Why do you say that?" Dan asked.

"Mira can keep Ace from killing Will," Shun explained. "And Ace clearly needs to sort out her feelings with Will." Ace gave him a look that was half angry and half grateful. Ace really was just like Dan. He understood what Will saw in her, but she wasn't his type.

Will walked into the Vestal lab. He walked up behind Mira's dad, Dr. Clay. He was working on making a Mechanical Trap Bakugan. Will noticed that it looked much like Laserman. However, they were not using a background circuit that went to all the weapons systems.

"Wouldn't the Trap conserve power if you simply routed power through this circuit here?" Will asked, pointing to the circuit he had seen.

Dr. Clay followed his finger and found the circuit. His face broadened into a smile and he laughed excitedly.

"Yes it would," Dr. Clay's voice sounded a little like Spectra's. "Someone get on that." He turned to face Will. "That solved the problem with Altair and Hades losing too much power too quickly, what's your name?"

"Will," Will extended his hand.

"Amazingly done, Will," Dr. Clay complimented while shaking his hand. "We can nearly double the power levels of Mechanical Bakugan thanks to that." He released Will's hand and held a hand up. "I'm going to make you a brand new Bakugan we'd been thinking about." Dr. Clay pulled up a schematic of a Darkus Mechanical Bakugan.

"That would be most satisfactory," Will said, smiling. Oh yes, his plan was in motion, and Hydron didn't suspect a thing.

The tank was on its way to Beta City, making good time. Of course getting there faster would not speed up Will's arrival in the cave. For all Ace knew, it was a trap. He might not even be in Beta City.

"What troubles you, Ace?" Percival asked. He was always there for her.

"This meeting with Will," Ace confessed, wringing her hands. "I think it might be a trap."

"Will is an honorable man, he wouldn't trick you."

"He joined the Vexos."

"You don't know why he's there."

"Neither do you."

"He only took Leonidas with him."

"So?"

"He didn't even bring Tripod Theta, he's not putting any more Bakugan in danger than necessary. If he were truly one of the Vexos, he would have brought all his Bakugan, and would have given Angelo/Diablo to Hydron."

"Hmph," Ace wasn't buying it. With only 3 days left, she wasn't going to let her guard down.

Will walked into the battle arena, as the newest Vexos member, he was given the 'honor' of fighting the winner of a tournament. The winner was a Pyrus brawler. This guy had no clue what he was getting into.

Will set the gate silently. It seemed that silence had become his trademark. He rolled Hades onto the card and waited.

"Bakugan, brawl!" His opponent shouted. "Pyrus Hammersaur, Stand!" _Hammersaur Power Level 3-5-0 G's. Hades Power Level 6-0-0 G's._

Will activated Phaser Trident. Hades charged the bright pink energy and fired at the Pyrus Bakugan. _Hammersaur Power Level 5-0 G's._

"Ability, Activate!" The brawler yelled. "Fire Wall!" Hammersaur roared and a tornado of flame gathered around himself, but it wasn't enough. The blasts ripped through the tornado and struck the Bakugan, returning it to the brawler. Will saw his opponent's power level drop to 50% out of the corner of his eye.

"A stunning show of power by the newest Vexos brawler!" The announcer shouted. "In one hit he could have taken his opponent's Bakugan! Quite a display of power by the newest Vexos member!"

"Gate Card, Set!" The second round had begun. "Stand, Pyrus Geldin!" _Geldin Power Level 4-0-0 G's._ A challenge, perhaps? Hades stood on the card. "Gate Card, Open! Pyrus Reactor!"

Will activated Photon Tail. Hades' tails maneuvered and fired at Geldin. _Geldin Power Level 2-0-0 G's._ No, not a challenge. The Bakugan fell and returned to ball form. His opponent was defeated, and Will could get back to work. It had been half a day to get to Beta City from Gamma.

Will walked through the base, exploring the inner workings. He had to take his time, make sure he remembered where each room was. Will would eventually need to take down the Dimension Controller, after all. With only 2 days until his meeting with the Resistance, he needed to give them a way in that nobody would see coming. Of course, he also had to make sure he was not a suspect. A lock of Shadow's hair would be more than enough to convince Hydron, fixing Dr. Clay's problem would convince him, and association with Gus and Spectra would convince the rest of the Vexos.

He found a path of vents that Shun could slip through and marked them on his internal map. He finally stopped when he reached the Dimension Controller. The machine was a singular pillar in a room of flashing lights. It seemed almost a shame to use a device so beautiful for something so evil. Nonetheless, it must be destroyed.

He marked the last vent and went back to his room. He took a virtual map and added the vents that led to the control room. Shun definitely needed to see this.

It was the last day before the meeting with Will, and Mira was prepared for a trap. She was also prepared to keep an open mind to what he had to say. Will could have a perfectly reasonable reason for joining the Vexos. She had kept the base in the same spot just out of Beta's sensors. They were 10 miles from the cave where they were supposed to meet.

"Mira," Wilda's voice came from her pocket. "You're worried about something, what is it?"

"What if," Mira started. "What if Will really has gone over to the Vexos?"

"That doesn't fit his personality," Wilda reasoned.

"But-"

"Will wouldn't join the Vexos if he felt like he had any other options," Shun walked into the control room. "He's a good person, sure he's made some bad choices, taken a few wrong turns before, but he'd never let the Vexos change him."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Mira whispered, turning away.

The day was here. Will walked down to the main exit confidently. He wore a light brown version of his usual cape and hood as he walked out into the desert. It was now or never, he'd meet the brawlers, for better or worse. Will wore his gauntlet though, he wasn't a fool.

He walked exactly 5.2 miles southeast to the small cave he had hidden in his message. Will climbed the top of the rock and jumped down to the hollowed out side. He entered and took off his shoulder piece. Will kneeled in the darkness. There was waiting to be done.

Will had no idea how long he waited. He simply opened his eyes to see Mira and Ace at the mouth of the cave. Will smiled upon seeing Ace, a full smile he hadn't felt for a week. He got to his feet and took a step towards them. The way the sun was shining, Will had been mostly in the light. He took his gauntlet off and tossed it with his shoulder piece. Will wasn't going to fight if they wanted to.

"You wanted to see us?" Mira asked.

"Dick," Ace added.

"Yes," Will answered. "I gathered information on the Dimension Controller, how to disable it without a battle, and vents Shun can slip through to get there." Will held up the map and a diagram of the Dimension Controller with highlighted parts to remove.

"Thank you," Mira accepted the items.

"Dick," Ace added.

"Also," Will remembered. "Make sure Shun drops these every so often." He handed Mira a small bag with some of Shadow's hair. "I don't want to get kicked out yet."

"Why not?" Ace asked pointedly. "Do you like enslaving the Bakugan?" Will shook his head and held up Hades.

"There's more of these," Will replied. "The Vexos are making ones that have power levels of 800."

"800!" They exclaimed.

"They'll start production in 10 days," Will continued. "So either we take the three Dimension Controllers in 10 days, or I stay on the inside and take out the final Dimension Controllers simultaneously."

"But there's only 2 left," Ace argued.

"Hydron has a back-up controller hidden in his palace," Will stated evenly.

"So that's why you asked us to come here?" Ace asked. "Give us information and pretend that fixes everything?"

"No," Will inclined his head. "I'm sorry for scaring you guys, I should have told you earlier, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to get intel on the Vexos. By the way, Dr. Clay is your father, right Mira?"

"Yeah."

"Thought so," Will remarked. "I hope you guys can understand, but I'm still really sorry about scaring you." He pulled out the second piece of Dimension Crystal from his pocket. Will had attached the crystal to a dark metal necklace. "Ace, this is for you."

Once again, please review and thanks for reading.


	12. Chapter 12

StarWarsLover1998: Thanks for the compliment, but really, Hydron and Joffrey are practically the same character. Look out for a Silence of the Lambs reference in the second arc.

Without further ado, Chapter 12:

When Will returned to Beta City, he had a problem. There were more guards than usual in front of the main doors, each of them armed. Will hoped there wouldn't be a confrontation as he walked to the doors.

"Halt!" a guard ordered. Will sighed and held up his right forearm. Upon seeing the gauntlet, the guards drew their weapons. "You are a traitor to the crown, hand over your gauntlet and come peacefully!"

Will sighed again. How could they have known that he was with the Resistance? Will removed his gauntlet and handed it to the guard.

Will found himself kneeling at Spectra's feet in the Vexos conference room. He kept his head down and did nothing when Spectra removed his hood. Will looked up at Spectra with a look of indignance.

"I am not a traitor," He said evenly.

"And I believe you," Spectra stated, elicting confused noises from some of the Vexos. "Just tell me where you went all yesterday, and we can put this all behind us."

"I had to clear my head," Will stated, still looking indignant. "I went for a walk and meditated in a cave." It was half true.

"How about you tell the truth?" Mylene asked. "Where were you, traitor?"

"I told you, I was in a cave, meditating," Will insisted.

"I don't think he's lying," Gus commented.

"Neither do I," Volt agreed.

"He might not be telling the whole truth," Mylene argued.

"Lync?" Spectra asked.

"He's probably telling the truth," Lync suggested. "But what do I know about Earthlings?"

"That's 4 to 1," Spectra stated. "A majority vote. We of the Vexos find you innocent of your crimes, your gauntlet will be returned to you." Will's indignace faded as he stood and returned to his position across from Spectra. He smiled after pulling his hood back up. Exactly as planned.

Will flew towards Gamma City, solidifying his alibi and replying to a summons by Prince Hydron. Dr. Clay had finished Will's Bakugan, the MAC Spider, early. The Spider was more powerful than Hades, but not as tough, besides they both have the possibility of being destroyed. Will calmly flew the ship into the sky palace and went directly to Prince Hydron's throne room.

Will was shocked to say the least, he had been told that the bronze statues were there, but never had he actually seem them. The statues were bordering on beautiful and horrifying. The detail was amazing, but inside the bronze statues were actual Bakugan, forced to watch the whiny prince. If Will hadn't been in his Vexos cover, he might have snapped.

There was a trick to convincing the Vestals he was a true Vexos member. Will had not told Baron the full truth as to _why_ he wasn't battling on the front lines against Masquerade. Will had a tendency, it only occurred when he was in deep focus, but recently he had been able to do it at will. He was able to dispel his empathy. Only someone close to him could pull him out of that state. Alice used to be the only one who could do it, but then Will got to know Ace. Ace was different, he didn't feel the way he did with Alice. Alice was really more of a sibling to him than anything else. But Ace was something else entirely. Will felt that he-.

"Marvelous, aren't they?" Hydron interrupted his thoughts. How did Will go off on a tangent like that? He was supposed to be emotionless. Will walked up to the throne and knelt before it, head bowed. "Oh, come on, you aren't silent in respect for the Fighting Bakugan are you? They're really just eye candy, no practical use." Hydron was baiting him.

"Yes, my prince," Will replied, his voice much lower than expected.

"Truly," Hydron was trying much too hard. "They are just superficial when released. Nuisances more than anything else. Only when made into statues are they useful." But why didn't he catch his tangent earlier?

"Yes, my prince," Will repeated. It was a mystery, and he couldn't remember what he felt about Ace, anyway.

"Speak freely, my precious underling," Hydron spoke to him as though Will were a pet. That was just creepy.

"Yes, my prince."

"Please, drop the formalities."

"That would be improper, my prince," Will smiled under his mask. Messing with Hydron was too much fun. Hydron rose from his chair and pointed behind him.

"Sit in that circle, now," Hydron ordered.

"Yes, my prince," Will rose to his feet and walked to the center of the room behind Hydron. He sat in a meditative posture. Will felt the energies around him as his mind settled into clarity. A shadow before him, to the left, a star, to the right, a whirlpool. Behind him, he felt a tornado and an earthquake. Will thought only one thing, _You will all be freed if it's the last thing I do._ He was sucked back into reality by Hydron once more.

"Well?" He asked.

"What troubles you, my prince?" Will responded.

"Get out of my sight," Hydron spat. What a brat.

Sorry that it's so short, guys. I've had quite a bit to do, including making a crossover fic. StarWarsLover1998, you might like it once I get it up. It's a Star Wars/Avatar: The Last Airbender fic. As always, please review and fav.


	13. Chapter 13

StarWarsLover1998: Thanks for the offer, but due to the time period it's set in, I don't think I need any more OC's, but thanks for the offer!

Enjoy Chapter 13 everyone:

Will felt no shift in the air as he flew back to Beta City. Odd, he had left range of the Dimension Controller just a few seconds ago. Why did he feel the Dimension Controller? Why was Leo still in ball form? It's like Dr. Clay increased the range of the Dimension Controller.

His radar showed a Vestal Destroyer up ahead. Maybe they'll have answers. Will piloted the ship into the hangar and landed.

Will walked onto the bridge, where he was met by Mylene and Lync. They looked at him expectantly. They should know by now that Will never spoke first.

"And where have you been?" Mylene inquired pointedly.

"I was summoned by Prince Hydron," Will answered. "What has happened?"

"The Dimension Controller got blown up, that's what," Lync replied.

"But why has the range of the Gamma Controller increased?" Will asked.

"You hadn't heard?" Mylene questioned. Will shook his head. "It appears that your old friends fell through a portal after destroying the Dimension Controller. They took Spectra and Gus with them, too." Will concealed his shock.

"Which ones fell through?" Will asked, not caring about his cover.

"Mira, Dan, and Baron," Lync smiled. "Isn't it great?" Will was lucky he was wearing a mask and hood.

"Oh, come on," Mylene reprimanded. "Lighten up a little." Will bowed his head.

"Yeah," Lync agreed. "Celebrate, that's four down, two to go."

"Does not Prince Hydron want the Dragonoid?" Will asked, finding a reason to be serious.

"Oh he'll be upset that he doesn't have his toy," Mylene replied. "But he'll get over it."

Will lifted his head and stated, "Then we should not waste time partying when we can be capturing the Resistance. And I have a plan to do just that." Will grimaced beneath his mask and suppressed a shiver.

Shun sat at the Dimensional Communicator, he was _not_ leaving without hearing that Dan was alive and unharmed. Every few minutes he asked if anyone was receiving the signal, but there were no responses.

The door to the control room opened. They must have passed into the range of the Dimension Controller early.

"You coming, Shun?" Ace asked. Shun nodded and rose from the Communicator. He looked back at it longingly.

"Actually," Ace stated. "You stay here in case they contact us." Shun nodded gratefully. He sat back down in front of the Dimensional Controller.

"This is Shun to Earth, does anyone read?"

"This is Alice, I read you Shun," The Dimensional Controller responded.

"Alice," Shun sighed in relief. "How's Dan?"

"What do you mean?"

"Dan, Mira, and Baron were caught in a Dimensional Portal."

"Oh my," Alice paused. "Is everyone else alright?"

"Ace and I just need to know if everyone got through alright."

"What about Will?"

"Shun, what about Will?" Alice asked more insistently. Shun may have been rather quiet, but never this quiet unless he had bad news.

"Will…" Shun started, but seemed to lose his voice for a second. "Will thinks they'll be fine."

"Shun," Alice knew that was a lie, Will worried about Dan almost as much as Shun. "What happened?"

"Well," Shun swallowed. "Will was taken by the Vexos." Alice gasped. She'd heard about how evil the Vexos were from Will, especially their Subterra Brawler, Gus.

"Go save him," Alice ordered. "Save my брат."

Will felt a heavy weight on his chest when he heard Alice call him her brother. He made great use of the mechanical bugs to listen to his apparently untappable Dimension Communicator. Will's bug was situated behind the Dimension Communicator, so all he could hear was the conversation between dimensions. It still hurt to spy on his friends, but Will could lie to the Vexos and say that the bug recovered only old information.

He sighed and turned off the bug. Did Shun honestly believe Will wasn't acting on his own conscience? He couldn't do this much longer, the only Vexos left were the ones that didn't have his back. Will would have to up his game or quit.

 _Ace was laying in bed. Rocks were banging against her window. Ace got out of bed and walked over to the window, opening it and peering out. Will was standing there._

" _Ace, you're awake!" Will said excitedly. "Come down quickly, I've got something to show you!" Ace rolled her eyes._

" _I'm not falling for that one," Ace dismissed. Was Will trying to drag her out of her comfortable bedroom for some brawling technique? Forget it._

" _Come on, Ace," Will insisted. "What are ya? Chicken?"_

" _Chicken?" Ace asked indignantly. "Now you're gonna get it." She was halfway down the stairs before she realized she didn't have boots or a jacket. Oh well, a jacket would only get in her way._

 _She raced outside, only to be tackled by Will. They rolled for a couple feet before stopping, laughing all the way. They untangled themselves and rose. Ace pulled him close-_

Will saw Ace jump out of her bed and look out the window when he called her name. He may have ditched the shoulder piece, but he still felt something pulling him down.

"What do you want?" Ace whispered from her window.

"We need to leave, now," Will whispered insistently. Ace nodded and went out of sight. She reappeared at the main door moments later, in full Resistance outfit.

"Where's Shun?" Ace asked.

"He's already at the rendezvous point," Will replied. "There's an abandoned town nearby, that's where we're heading." His heart became heavier. Ace nodded.

Dan arrived in the stadium and saw Spectra across the field. He was ready for this battle.

"Right here I've got home field advantage," Dan boasted. "This is where I finally took out Masquerade."

"It won't help you," Spectra stated.

"Gauntlet, Power Strike!" Time slowed and the raindrops froze in midair.

"Careful, Dan," Drago warned. "His Bakugan was powerful enough to overwhelm Tigrerra."

"Chill out, Drago," Dan had this in the bag. "We both know the score. It's time to put Spectra on ice, for good."

"Then what're we waiting for?"

"Gate Card, Set!" Dan yelled. "Bakugan, Brawl! Flame on Drago! Let's show 'em how it's done!" Drago rose in his fiery tornado and flew up into the air.

"You're no match for my all-powerful Pyrus Helios!" Spectra shouted. "Bakugan Brawl! Helios Stand!" Helios rose, glowing a dark red.

"We meet again, Helios," Drago stated.

"Hmph," Helios responded. "I've been waiting for a rematch, Dragonoid."

They arrived at the abandoned town, moon high in the sky, yet there were no stars to be seen.

"In there," Will panted, pointing at the jail. They raced inside, and Will closed the door behind him. "I'm sorry, Ace." He looked away as the walls opened and captured Ace in a capsule. Will heard her banging her fists on the reinforced glass and wiped a single tear from his cheek.

"Ability, Activate!" Dan shouted. "Strike Dragon!" Drago fired waves of Perfect Core energy from the diamond on his chest, blocking the laser blasts from Helios. _Dragonoid Power Level 8-0-0 G's. Helios and MetalFencer Power Level 1-2-0-0._ "Still not enough!" Dan rifled through his pockets. "We gotta hammer this battle home, come Bakugan Trap, Skorpion!" Dan threw the Bakugan into the air, he could tell that this would even the odds.

The Trap stood behind Helios, Dan's signature gambit would strike Helios from behind and win him the battle.

"Check it," Dan boasted. "Triple Ability, Activate! Burning Dragon, plus Burning Tornado, plus Fusion Ability Pyrus Slayer!" Drago spun and fired the huge fireball, following it with the tornado. _Dragonoid and Skorpion Power Level 1-8-5-0 G's. Helios and MetalFencer 9-0-0 G's._ And Skorpion would-

"Your Triple Ability means nothing," Spectra gloated. "You've reached the limit, but I've got more. Double Ability, Activate! Nova Defencer, plus Red Valkyrie!" Helios shot a fireball from his mouth while MetalFencer shot Skorpion. Skorpion was returned to Dan, and Drago's massive fire attack was quelled. _Dragonoid Power Level 1-1-0-0 G's. Helios and MetalFencer Power Level 1-5-0-0 G's._ This wasn't going to be as easy as Dan had thought.

Will knelt before Prince Hydron, who still only had five of the Seven Fighting Bakugan.

"I see you have captured the remaining members of the Resistance," Hydron noted. "Well done." Hydron stood from his throne in anger. "So _why_ don't I have my Dragonoid!"

"The Dragonoid is on Earth," Will explained. "And we have no stable connection between here and Earth."

"Then get Clay on it!" Hydron yelled. Will dipped his head further. "Go!"

Will rose from his kneeling position and left the throne room. He pulled Hammersaur, Anchorsaur, Freezer, Atmos, and Fly Beetle from his pocket.

"Guys," Will explained. "I need you to go into the vents. Once there follow this." Will held up the flying messenger. "It will take you to the back-up controller. Once inside, it will project instructions on how to disable it, I need you to follow them to the letter, got it?" A chorus of 'yes' came from his hand. "Good, now go." Will put the Bakugan and the messenger into the vent. He continued walking like he had not just ensured Hydron's defeat.

"Alice to New Vestroia," Alice spoke into the Dimensional Communicator. "Alice to New Vestroia, do you read?"

"This is a recording for Alice Gehabich," Alice heard Will's voice. "The Resistance needs Baron, Dan, and Mira badly. Please fix the Dimensional Transporter soon, Ace and Shun have been captured by the Vexos. I'm not just asking as a member of the Resistance, but as your брат. We need you to fix the Dimension Transporter." What has Will gotten himself into?

Will sat in his room, fiddling with the necklace he gave Ace. He just couldn't have given this to the Vexos. Just couldn't have. The vent above him opened and the Bakugan he sent to sabotage the back-up Controller fell into his hands. Will smiled as Hammersaur reported success. Now there was only one thing left to do.

"This Forbidden Card will grant your wish," Spectra held up an evil-looking purple card. "It will grant you power beyond measure."

"That card?" Dan asked. "You can't be serious!"

"Ability, Activate!" Spectra shouted. "Nova Blazer X!" Spectra threw the card at Helios, where purple tendrils wrapped around him, causing his muscles to expand and his veins to bulge.

"What's," Dan paused. "It doing?" Spectra laughed as Helios glowed purple.

"What kind of card is this?" Drago exclaimed more than he did ask. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"It's power level is off the hook!" Dan yelled as he watched the power levels change. "Spectra, no! How can you do this to your partner?"

"By using Chaos Ability X," Spectra explained, sounding insane as he did so. "I can give him power beyond his limit. Admit it, he is the most magnificent Bakugan you have ever seen!" Helios had become a monster, not something magnificent.

"Helios!" Drago yelled. "Resist this power, it's destroying you!" But the look in Helios's eye showed it was already too late.

"Leave me alone, weakling!" Helios shouted. He defeated Drago just by roaring, with a difference of 1400 in their power levels, more than enough for Spectra to take Drago. And without a word, Spectra left the arena. Dan didn't realize he was on his knees until an hour later, when Mira and Julie found him.


	14. Chapter 14

Sorry this chapter took so long, I scrapped my original idea for this chapter, it really wasn't working out. So, here's Chapter 14:

* * *

Will realized he wasn't dreaming the second he saw the figures around him. There were five, all masked, and each with a different symbol and color scheme. Will realized could feel their presences without meditating and he knew that these were no normal beings. A whirlpool, a tornado, an earthquake, a deep shadow, and a star were around him. These were Bakugan, extremely old and powerful Bakugan.

"You," The shadow spoke. "Shadow-Tongue, heed our warning. If you remain on your current path, you would bring pain and death upon yourself and those you love."

"We had believed you could resist the temptation," The tornado added. "But now you are stepping down the darkest of paths."

"How can you say this?" Will asked. "I have ensured the defeat of the Vexos."

"Through murder," The whirlpool clarified. Will shuddered at the word.

"This is not murder," Will argued. "This is justice."

"And who made you judge, jury, and executioner?" The shadow asked. Will remained silent. "What gives you, or anyone, the right to decide who lives and who dies?" The shadow paused for an answer, but received none. "We spare you, because all people are worthy of redemption, especially you."

Will woke in his bed with a start, those must have been the Legendary Soldiers. He'd heard of them before, but where was the Pyrus Soldier? Will hopped out of bed and redid the calculations on the Dimension Controller, accounting for the enhanced output without Drago in New Vestroia. The radius of the explosion would be double what he had originally thought, not just destroying Hydron's throne room, but all of Gamma City. That severely hindered his plans, Ace and Shun would have to wait until he could think of a way to fix this. Unless he tipped off Dr. Clay about the Dimension Controller… That would work.

* * *

Ace felt weightless, like she was surrounded by water, but she could still breathe. She heard muffled voices around her, yelling something about 'catastrophic failure.' Ace really hoped that she wasn't the one with catastrophic failures.

"Release her!" was that Will? "Do it, now!" She heard motors whirring and felt herself fall into someone's arms. Will?

"Don't open your eyes," Will whispered almost inaudibly in her ear. "Hold your breath, and try not to move." Got it. Ace felt her back touch the floor and someone was shifting around her. She held her breath as something pressed against her neck. It stayed for a few moments before leaving. More shifting around her. Ace felt something brush against her cheek.

"Damn it," Will swore.

"Did we-"

"You _killed_ her," Will interrupted angrily. "Get out of here, _now_!" She heard footsteps rush away and a door slid closed. "We should be alright, you can get up now." Ace opened her eyes and looked around. She had been in a prisoner containment unit. The memories came flooding back into her mind: sneaking out with Will, walking for a few miles, going into an old prison-.

"You put me in that tube!" Ace accused. Will shook his head.

"It was the only way to make sure the Vexos didn't hurt you," Will shuddered. "I can't bear the thought of anyone hurting you."

"You sneaky little shit," Ace shook her head. "What about Shun?"

"Down the hall," Will nodded to the left. "Shall we?" Ace stood, only to be swept into his arms.

"Seriously?" Ace laughed. Will shrugged.

"Hey, gotta solidify the cover," Will offered. Ace rolled her eyes.

"Suuuure, that's the only reason," Ace teased. Will shrugged again, providing no other response. Ace closed her eyes and made herself go limp.

* * *

Will entered his room and dropped Ace onto the bed. He turned around and closed the door. Ace jumped off the bed and looked around. She was very clearly unimpressed.

"Catch," Will threw the necklace he made at her. Ace caught it and looked at it.

"You couldn't have just left it at the base, could you?"

"Not saying that about Falcon Fly or Percival, huh?" Will held up both.

"Ha ha," Ace laughed sarcastically as she took them out of his hand. "So, on to Shun?"

"That's where I'm going," Will replied. "You should go turn off the Dimension Controller and trigger an evacuation alarm."

"And how do expect me to do the second one?"

"Just be yourself, that should do it," Will teased.

"Hey!"

* * *

Will checked that they both had all the Resistance Bakugan before setting out on their tasks. Will made a BEeline for Shun's containment cell. He was certainly glad that he didn't have to trick Shun into anything, Will didn't even know that he could. The door opened to Shun's cell just before the alarms began blaring. Will smiled under his mask as he yelled for the technicians to run.

* * *

Once the technicians had cleared out of the room, Will activated the release system on Shun's capsule. He smiled when he saw the vitals were normal. Will tossed Hylash and Ingram at Shun's head after he fell to the ground.

* * *

Will walked into Hydron's throne room, finally free to speak his mind to the brat. He removed his shoulder piece and charged to the throne. The statues were on display, good.

"What's this?" Hydron asked. "Has someone come to share in the safety of my throne room?"

"No, my brat," Will spat. Hydron nearly jumped out of his skin when Will activated his gauntlet blade and held it up to his neck.

"How _dare_ you!" Hydron acted tough. "I am-"

"Someone who needs to learn a thing or two about how to treat those who have a weapon at your throat," Will interrupted. "Now, you're going to release the Bakugan you have in bronze before the Dimension Controller dies, and this whole place comes crashing down."

"I'll need to get up to input the code," Hydron whimpered.

"Shun can input the code," Will stated as the ninja appeared next to him. Hydron yelped when he saw Shun. Hydron pressed a few keys on his armrest and the circle in the center of the Bakugan rose up. Shun walked over to it before looking back at him.

"The code, Hydron, now," Will threatened. Hydron gave it in a high pitched voice. Shun pressed the corresponding buttons, causing the bronze statues to dissolve. Each Bakugan, once freed, transformed into ball form, satisfying Will.

"Can I go now?" Hydron asked, afraid of the answer.

"Go," Will deactivated his blade and backed away from Hydron.

"Fool!" Hydron pressed a few buttons, resulting in two brown objects falling from the ceiling. Will jumped away before realizing that one was a gauntlet and the other was a Bakugan. "I challenge you to a Bakugan battle!"

"I accept," Will readied his gauntlet and caught the Bakugan that sailed toward him, Hydranoid.

"Gauntlet!" Will and his adversary shouted. "Power Strike!"

"Gate Card, Set!" Hydron yelled, setting a Subterra Reactor card. "Bakugan Brawl, Dryoid, stand!" The Mechanical Bakugan stood, brown and orange armoring on a humanoid body, with a faceplate that had glowing red stripes. _Dryoid Power Level 7-0-0 G's._

"Bakugan, brawl," Will ordered. "Bakugan, stand. Give 'em hell Leo." The Bakugan faced off, Dryoid pressing the attack. _Hades Power Level 5-5-0 G's._

"Ability, Activate!" Hydron shouted. "Murasame Blade!" Dryoid pulled a hilt off of his back and activated an orange energy blade, charging at Hades. _Dryoid Power Level 1-0-0-0 G's_.

"Double ability, activate," Will commanded. "Beta Barrier plus Epsilon Enhancer." Leo roared and stuck his hands out, generating a shield of energy. _Leonidas Power Level 8-5-0 G's. Dryoid Power Level 7-0-0 G's._

"You think _that_ will stop me? Ha!" Hydron taunted. "Fusion Ability Activate! Shoo Dragon Fly!" The blade changed from orange to light blue as Dryoid hacked against Leo's shield. Time to attack. _Leonidas Power Level 6-5-0 G's._

"Triple ability, activate," Will ordered. "Tau Twister, plus Omicron Orb, plus Epsilon Enhancer." Leo moved his hands out to his sides and created the tornado of energy, pushing Dryoid back. He then put his hands in front of his chest and gathered a large ball of purple energy, firing it at Dryoid. _Leonidas Power Level 1-0-5-0. Dryoid Power Level 5-0-0 G's._

"Ability Activate!" Hydron shouted. "Ray Blade!" Dryoid's energy blade changed color, but took the energy blast to the chest before he could act. _Hydron Life Force: 50%._

"Gate card, set," Will set an Aquos Reactor. It was time to lull Hydron. "Bakugan, brawl. Stand Haos Anchorsaur!"

"Dryoid, stand!" Hydron rolled Dryoid onto the card.

"Bakugan stand," Will rolled Darkus Hammersaur out. "Ability, activate: Relationship Between Haos and Darkus." The wolf Bakugan glowed. _Hammersaur and Anchorsaur Combined Power Level 9-5-0 G's._

"Ability, Activate!" Hydron yelled. "Murasame Blade!" _Dryoid Power Level 1-0-0-0 G's._

"Bakugan, brawl," Will rolled out Atmos as Hammersaur was defeated. "Ability, activate: Spark Out." Anchorsaur's shoulder shields glowed and Dryoid flew back. _Will Life Force: 90%._

"Ability, Activate!" Hydron shouted. "Knuckle Vulcan!" Dryoid glowed with power and charged once more.

"Bakugan, brawl," Will sent Fly Beetle as Anchorsaur was returned to his feet. _Will Life Force: 80%._ Fly Beetle went down, Will rolled out Freezer, who was downed as well. _Will Life Force: 60%._ Will finally rolled out Angelo.

"Ability, activate," Will ordered. "Water Refrain." Angelo let out a pulse of blue energy, which did nothing to slow Dryoid's charge at Atmos. _Dryoid Power Level 1-3-0-0 G's._ "Stand, Tripod Theta!" Will tossed the Trap into the air as Atmos returned to his feet.

"Ability, Activa-" Hydron stared at his fancy gauntlet. "Wait, I can't activate any abilities."

"That's the power of Water Refrain," Will taunted. "Ability, activate: Live Ripple." Energy bodies of Anchorsaur, Hammersaur, Atmos, Fly Beetle, and Freezer appeared around Tripod Theta, blocking Dryoid's attempts at attack. _Tripod Theta and Angelo Combined Power Levels 1-4-5-0 G's._ "Get him!" Angelo swooped in and struck the Mechanical Bakugan, sending him back to Hydron. _Hydron Life Force: 0_. _Winner: Will._

Will smiled and left the throne room with Shun.

* * *

Again, sorry for the delay. I'm going to be on hiatus for a while, but I will get around to writing the second arc. I promise!


	15. Arc 2 Chapter 1

Hey guys, it's my first post during the school year, so I'm going to keep it relaxed for now, and I'm hoping to get in a post every weekend or so. For your viewing pleasure, I present Chapter 1 of the second arc:

* * *

Will stood with Shun and Ace between the Bakugan. He smiled, it was so nice to be back in his Resistance outfit after being in that Vexos outfit. Will gazed up at his friends, Tigrerra, Preyas, Diablo, Gorem, Hydranoid, Skyress, Leo, Ingram, and Percival. He wasn't entirely sure where Hades, the MAC spider, Tripod Theta and Fortress lay, but they seemed willing enough to be with him.

"Skyress," Ingram spoke. "It would be an honor to fight by your side with Shun."

"I agree," Skyress confirmed. "It was hard enough to be separated from Shun when New Vestroia was formed, I wouldn't do the same thing twice." Shun smiled.

"So what about you five?" Will asked the remaining Bakugan. "Ready to see your partners again?" Will received a chorus of confirmation before a portal opened and spilled out Dan, Mira, Baron, Spectra and _Gus_. He took a step back as all their Bakugan rose into warrior form. Will noticed that everyone around him had done the same. He smiled, they had Spectra and his snake outnumbered three to one, they wouldn't dare to attack.

"Spectra," Will threatened. "I'm giving you and _Gus_ one chance to leave. Do so, and Leo probably won't step on you." He watched Spectra and Gus look at their odds, seeming to see the same odds Will did.

"Woah!" Dan exclaimed after the two had fled. "Did you guys take out the last Dimension Controller on your own?"

"Yeah," Ace boasted. Will turned his head to look at her.

"You say that like you did more than cause an evacuation," He commented.

"Do you know how hard it is to do that?" Ace argued.

"What did you do," Will teased. "Pull a fire alarm?"

"That's not the point!" Ace yelled. She'd had enough now.

"Ok," Will defused. "Ok, you know what? How about you come to Earth with me and I show you around." This idea seemed to please Ace. But of course Mira broke his spell.

"Ace," She chastised. "We still have to go show Vestal that the Bakugan are sentient."

"Are you sure you need the three of us?" Baron chimed in, coming to Will's aid. "You and I can just as easily do this on our own."

"Besides, Mira," Ace added. "It's not like there's space for me there." Will was slightly confused by this.

"Do you mean you don't have any family on Vestal?" Will asked, looking at Ace.

"No," Ace answered nonchalantly. "But maybe I could stay with you on Earth?"

"As long as Dr. Michael says it's ok," Will answered immediately.


	16. Arc 2 Chapter 2

Now that I have everything in order for this arc, I am going to drop us off a couple months after the events of the last chapter. And now, with great excitement, I present Chapter 2:

* * *

Will needed a break from Russia. He was tired of needing Alice to translate the words for him. He was tired of using roubles. He was mostly tired of Communism in general.

"Hey, Alice," Will called from the kitchen.

"What is it Will?" Alice turned her head to look at him.

"Do you think we could visit Dan and the others for a while?" Will asked as he put another dish on the drying rack.

"Who'll watch Grandfather?" Alice inquired, Dr. Michael generally needed someone to make sure he ate and stopped working, much like Will himself.

"What could he possibly do next?" Will responded. "We've gotten the Dimensional Transporter functioning optimally, we managed to FaceTime Klaus on Vestal, _and_ we were able to set up multiple bases on both New Vestroia and Vestal."

"Good point," Alice tilted her head back and forth. "But just to be safe, you go with my Masquerade cards so I can keep an eye on Grandfather while you can get away from Communism." Will's jaw dropped when she gave him the Masquerade cards.

"You're actually giving me these?" Will asked, dumbfounded.

"That's half," Alice reassured him. She definitely wasn't the girl Will came to Russia with the first time.

* * *

 _Will and Alice walked into the house after working on the Dimensional Transporter. Dr. Michael had already gone to his room, but Alice seemed tense. Only a month after the Masquerade business had finished, Will knew she had to have some questions. And they both stayed awake at least an hour after Dr. Michael fell asleep, so now it was probably alright for him to ask what he wanted to know._

" _Hey, Will," Alice started. "Can I talk to you?"_

" _Sure," Will sat on the couch and patted the seat next to him. He hadn't expected her to start this time._

" _Am I a girl or a boy?" She asked. The distress on her face meant this wasn't a rhetorical question._

" _You are... what you choose to be," Will stated slowly, wording it correctly. "To me, it doesn't make much of a difference what someone's gender is, but... I think that you should be you, whoever that is, girl, boy, or other." Will put his hands on the now crying Alice's shoulders. "To me, you will always be my friend, a savior of Earth and Vestroia, and the tamer of Hydranoid." Will paused. "You are the true master of Darkus."_

 _Alice put her head on Will's shoulder, sobbing, but Will hoped that the tears were those of happiness._

* * *

Will accepted the cards and shoved them into his card holster, a fairly useful attachment to his belt. He also had a pouch on his belt for holding the Bakugan. Tripod Theta, the MAC Spider, and Hades were inside. All he needed was Leo, where was Leo? Will opened the fridge in the kitchen to find Leo chilling, literally.

"Bro, you've gotta stop this," Will commented. The Darkus Bakugan opened and stared at his human.

"I'd like to see you stop me," Leo's voice emanated from the fridge. Will smiled as he shook his head and snatched the Bakugan from the fridge. Now with all his things, he hugged his сестра and stepped outside. Off to see his friends, he closed his eyes and did as Alice instructed him only minutes earlier.

Will appeared outside Dan's house, immediately being knocked over. Judging from the amount of red, he assumed it was Dan. They tumbled down the sidewalk for a while. As Will picked himself up he began scolding.

"Jesus, Dan, don't just run into-" Will stopped when he realized the person who knocked him over wasn't Dan. "Oh, I'm sorry…" Will hadn't realized that all the red he had been seeing this girl's hair. Wow, she was beautiful, her blue eyes like stars, red hair like a fiery halo around her, and a face like heaven. "Amy?"

"Will?" She asked, just as surprised to see me. "I haven't seen you since we saved Runo's ass from those hybrids. How've you been?" Well…

"I've been good, helping Alice and Dr. Michael through their," Will waved his hands around faux awkwardly after helping Amy up off the sidewalk. "Things. I also helped Dan and Shun save New Vestroia from oppressive aliens. How about you?" Telling his crush he had been in a relationship for a week would be really stupid.

"I've been keeping up with Sam and Lauren," Amy shrugged. "But Shun and Dan were there, I bet that was interesting."

"They tried _so_ hard not to admit their love," Will complained. "It was almost unbearable to watch."

"Did you meet any new people?" Amy asked. Will knew exactly what was needed.

"Actually, do you mind if we continue this conversation later? I need to get my stuff over to Marucho's."

"No problem, I was headed that way anyway, we can talk as we carry your stuff."

"No, you don't have to-" Will tried to dissuade Amy as she picked up one of his bags.

"What are friends for?" She smiled at him. He returned the smile as he picked up the transporter card and his other bag. This was just _lovely_.

* * *

Will walked into the room Mr. Kato showed him to and threw his bags on the bed. Bullet, consider yourself dodged. He had promised Amy that he'd text her after they had exchanged numbers. Will unpacked his Vexos gauntlet and shook his head. Maybe he should battle with someone, but this was no longer fun, something about combat seemed to make Will uncomfortable.

He heard the door sigh open as Dan stepped into the room. Will slipped the gauntlet back into his bag.

"Will?" Dan asked. "Are you alright, buddy?" Will nodded.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I responded.

"You were kinda," Dan shrugged. "I don't know, weird, around Amy. Like you wanted to get away." Is Dan suddenly observant? Will would need to step up his game

"No, man, I'm fine," The lie rolled off Will's tongue, it was a white lie, nothing major.

"Ok, I just thought because of you and Ace," Dan waved his arms awkwardly. "And that crush you had on Amy." Dan really was getting more observant. Unless Shun made him do this.

"Nah, I'm cool," Will needed to get out of defense. "So how're things with Shun?" Will changed subject.

"Whaddya mean?" Dan asked. Did he really not know Will knew? Or was he just that out of touch with his feelings?

"You and Shun," Will repeated. "You're dating, aren't you?" Dan took a step back.

"No way, man," Dan stated indignantly. "I'm not, you know."

"A homosexual?" Will filled in the word.

"No, I'm not one!" Dan yelled. Will held his hands out in a defusing manner.

"There's nothing wrong with it."

"I'm not gay!" Dan shouted at him before leaving Will's room. Dan will see the truth sooner or later.

* * *

Dan left the room, steamed. How could Will even _consider_ thinking that he was gay. As Dan walked down the hallway, he thought about why Will would think that. He's dating Runo, but was he really happy? Dan thought back to all the times he and Runo had shared. All he could remember were arguments. Never did they talk without devolving into some kind of a yelling contest. Was that love? His parents never argued the way he and Runo did. Was that love?

Not knowing where to go, Dan went to the roof and stared out over the town. So maybe he doesn't love Runo, but Shun? Dan remembered his times with Shun, the hug in New Vestroia, it had felt like more than just a friendly hug.

"Who am I!" Dan yelled at the clouds. "Who do I love!" He pressed his hands to the sides of his head and rested his head on the railing.

"I've asked myself that too," Shun's voice came from behind him. Dan nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned to face Shun.

"I just don't know myself anymore," Dan sighed and turned away, staring at the horizon once more.

"But I know you," Shun stepped next to him. Dan faced the ninja, what was this feeling in his chest? "And I know that being with Runo doesn't make you happy." Dan looked at his feet as the ninja took a step forward. He felt Shun lift his chin with his soft hand.

"Then who makes me happy?" The question felt pitiful to ask.

"I have an answer to that," Shun stated, moving his head closer to Dan's until their lips were touching. Shun smelled like a forest. He returned the gentle kiss, ignoring the small part of his mind that told him this was wrong. This felt more right than holding hands with Runo. For once in his life Dan felt calm.

* * *

Will came onto the roof after putting away his things to try and apologize to Dan. He hadn't meant to offend him, but when Will saw Dan, it seemed that there was no need. Thankfully, both he and Shun seemed to be so interested in kissing that they didn't notice his arrival. Will slowly left the rooftop, careful to close the door quietly. He pulled out his phone and texted Amy:

 _Guess who I just caught kissing on the roof._

He sent the message and _Bing!_ New message.

 _Runo and Julie?_ Will laughed as he went down the stairs.

 _Good guess, but not quite._ Message sent. He was in the living room with the other three when they heard _Bing!_ Will checked his phone, Runo and Julie looking at his phone.

 _Shun and Dan finally kissed?_

 _Bingo._ Perhaps sitting where everyone could see his messages was a bad plan.

"WHAT?" Runo shouted. "He kissed Shun before me? That bitch!" She stood and stormed out of the room. Will dropped his phone on the couch and chased after Runo, not bothering to close the conversation.

"Runo," Will called. "Runo, stop!" She wasn't listening. Will grabbed her arm, causing her to glare daggers at him.

"What do you want?" She spat.

"Runo, your relationship with Dan didn't make you or Dan happy," Will explained.

"You don't know that!"

"You two can't talk without having a shouting match, and that's destructive to both you and those around you." Runo continued to glare, not providing a retort. "Runo, you need someone grounded, just as Dan needs someone capable of quelling his flame." Her face began to soften. "And take it from me, when someone cheats on you, it's rough, but there's always hope." Tears began streaking down Runo's face.

* * *

Will returned to the living room with Runo a few minutes later, his phone in Julie's hands. He cleared his throat and Julie dropped his phone. Will grabbed his phone off of the couch as he sat on the opposite side of the couch from Julie. Unlocking his phone, he saw Julie's face as his background and shot the real Julie a look. Runo took a seat between them and Julie began comforting her.

Will sent Amy another message: _Runo saw the text and nearly went ballistic. Situation has been defused._

He put his phone on silent just before Amy's text came through.

 _Whoops, u should probably hide your phone better when txting me. (;_

Oh no, she sent a wink. Will should change the subject.

 _Anyway, how're Sam and Lauren and their Bakugan?_

That'll get her off topic. Sam, Lauren, and Amy were the only other people on Earth that had Bakugan from the Doom Dimension.

 _Sam + Lauren dating. Veron, Tsun, and Fima doing well. How's Leo?_

Really, Sam and Lauren? Will would never have pinned them for romantics.

 _Still sits in fridges, wish he'd stop._

Will hoped that there'd be a joke next, but sadly no.

 _Don't stop him, you'll like it when you want alone time with someone special (;_

Why won't she stop flirting? Will didn't need this. He heard footsteps behind him and then Runo began yelling. Will got out of his seat and walked quickly to his room. He was not going to sit there and listen to Runo and Dan argue, knowing that he was the cause.


	17. Arc 2 Chapter 3

_I'm sorry for the long wait guys, school gets in the way of writing. Ironic right? Anyways, here's the third part of the second arc_

* * *

Will returned when he had given them an hour, hoping they wouldn't start up when he entered the room. Thankfully he was able to sit in the corner of the room without consequence. Will noticed that there was no tension in the air, maybe Shun and Julie had settled the argument. Seeing as Runo and Dan weren't even looking at each other, they must have broken up. And poor Marucho had to sit through this whole fiasco.

Once he had assessed the situation, Will wanted to say something, but was at a loss for words. Fortunately, or unfortunately, everyone in the room was teleported to a very cloudy setting, with their Bakugan in warrior form. As he scanned the area around him, he noticed that Ace, Baron, Mira, Amy, a black haired girl: Sam he assumed, a brunette that was probably Lauren, and all their Bakugan were there as well. Fima was a Humanoid Pyrus Bakugan with leathery wings, a scaly body, and a helmet made of scales that blocked all facial features from sight. He held a staff in his right hand, an understated weapon for a Pyrus Bakugan.

Veron was a Ventus bird version of Leo. Where Leo had scales, Veron had feathers, and had the head of an eagle. An aggressive head for a Ventus Bakugan.

Tsun was an Aquos serpent with the head of a garden snake and a diamond pattern down her body. A rather blunt design for an Aquos Bakugan.

The rest were standing behind their partners, forming a circle of twelve Brawlers and fourteen Bakugan. Ace was on Will's left and Runo was on his right. As he looked around, he noticed that they were arranged in the positions of attributes, two of each. Something big was about to happen. From above came the five figures that had been in Will's dream, as well as one who was an inferno. Each figure faced their respective brawlers.

"King Zenoheld has defeated us in battle in an attempt to take the Attribute Energies," The inferno's voice reverberated through Will's head. "But we have tricked him, and now we grant our attribute energies to the champions of each attribute. Defend these energies, and defeat the Vexos." The six figures dissolved into energy, the shadow, inferno, earthquake, and star into two beams each, the whirlpool and tornado into three beams. One for each Bakugan.

All fourteen Bakugan glowed with energy as the area around Will dissolved. He blinked as Marucho's living room came into focus. Everyone had a Bakugan on their shoulder, including Will. The Bakugan was Darkus, with an upper body that resembled Leo, but the head had three horns coming out, one forward, two backward. It had a gray stripe around the center and legs that stuck out forward, rather than out to the side.

"Ugh," Leo's voice emanated from the Bakugan.

"Leo?" Will asked. "You alright buddy?" The Bakugan turned to face him.

"I think so," Leo nodded. "There's just so much power." Will felt his pocket vibrate and pulled out his phone, Amy had texted him.

 _Yo, Lauren + Sam + I just had the same vision and saw a bunch of Bakugan, including Leo. Did you?_ Why yes, yes he did.

 _Yep, so did the brawlers. Bakugan evolved, You?_

 _No_

 _Weird, come to Marucho's and we'll figure this out._ Will looked up at the brawlers.

"Anybody understand what just happened?" Will asked.

"The six ancient warriors granted us the Attribute Energies to protect from the Vexos," Drago explained. "But it seems they gave an equal amount to all the Bakugan, so some did not evolve."

"How does that work?" Dan asked.

"Those that were closer to evolution evolved, while those farther away simply had an increase in their power," Drago answered.

"So that's why Gorem and Tigrerra didn't evolve," Julie commented.

"Preyas, why isn't there a third one of you?" Marucho asked his partner.

"Sorry, kiddo," Preyas answered. "I didn't get enough juice."

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Diablo asked.

"There was another Aquos Bakugan there, brother," Angelo explained.

"I recognized Mira, Ace, Amy, and Baron," Runo noted. "But who were the other Ventus and Aquos Brawlers?"

"Those would be Sam and Lauren," Will answered. "Sam and Lauren are the other two that have Bakugan from the Doom Dimension, they helped out against Naga's army."

"Why did the Ancient Warriors choose them of all people?" Runo asked.

"Amy, Sam, and Lauren all faced moral questions of right and wrong, and suffered because of the right choices they made, but they persevered. Sam and Lauren became open lesbians, and Amy became a confident person, so never imply that any of them is undeserving of something you have."

"Wow, Will," Amy's voice came from the doorway as the trio of his friends entered the room. "Never knew you were that persuasive." She winked at him. Jesus, how did she turn _that_ into a flirt?

"Well you pick up a lot of things when you keep quiet," Lauren noted, smiling at her girlfriend pointedly.

"Not that you guys aren't welcome," Marucho began. "But how did you know we were here?"

"Hey, I told Will to let you guys know we would be here in a minute," Amy raised her hands in mock surrender. All eyes turned to Will. He checked his phone.

 _We'll be u in 1 min, tell brawlers._ Oh, so she had.

"I was trying to find the right moment to say it," Will shrugged weakly.

"Knowing you," Amy teased. "You were probably too busy observing to actually speak."

"Bite me," Will taunted. Oh, crap.

"I just might," Amy winked again. This is not the normal amount she flirted with anyone before they had saved Runo. Silence permeated the room.

"So, what were we talking about?" Will asked after clearing his throat. He saw Amy roll her eyes out of the corner of his eye.

"I had said that those further along to their evolution evolved, while those that were not simply became more powerful," Drago explained.

"Alright," Amy acknowledged. "We should regroup with the Resistance and take the fight to the Vexos." All eyes turned to her.

"I agree," Will interjected. "If we strike now, they won't be able to mount a defense."

"Anybody know where they are?" Lauren asked.

"I bet Ace knows," Runo smirked at Will.

"Who's Ace?" Amy asked. Will suddenly found himself studying the floor intensely.

"Ace is a part of the Resistance Will, Dan, and I joined to fight the Vexos," Shun explained.

"Ace is a bit of a sore topic for Will," Runo feigned nonchalance. "See, Ace dumped him after dating for two weeks."

"Jesus, man," Amy hit his shoulder lightly. "No wonder you were so obvious."

"What?" Will asked as he looked at Amy. He heard Julie giggle as he looked up at Amy.

"She's right," Julie agreed. "I read your texts. You were painfully obvious when avoiding her flirting."

"You also shift away slightly when I wink," Amy winked again, Will noticing his own shift. Damn, she was good at reading body language. He'd have to make a note of that.

"Back on topic," Dan interrupted. "How are we going to get to Vestal?" Will gestured to Marucho.

"Will, Alice, Dr. Michael, and I worked on a safe way to transport between here, Vestal, and New Vestroia," Marucho answered. "And thanks to a combination between my parents and Klaus funding us, we have established a link between all three destinations, a base on each. One here, the one on Vestal is in Klaus' mansion there, and the one on New Vestroia is in the old Beta City location." There was also one at Dr. Michael's lab, but that's not exactly the most relevant thing at the moment.

"We should probably group up with the Resistance and make a plan," Sam suggested. Will nodded in agreement, there was a certain strength in numbers.

"Let's head over to Klaus' mansion and get everyone together," Will suggested. "We'll send a message to the Resistance to group there."

"Let's go then," Dan stated.

"Going to an alien world may be cool with you guys," Lauren stuck her hands out. "But I'd prefer not to, thanks."

"Same here," Sam interjected softly.

"Well if the option's up for grabs…" Amy shrugged and stepped closer to Sam and Lauren.

"Maybe me going isn't the best idea anyways," Will muttered.

"Well why the hell not?" Amy asked. "Hi-tech alien world? This is exactly your style."

"I'm not surprised he didn't tell you," Runo taunted. "Honestly, when _I_ heard he'd joined the Vexos, I wasn't that surprised."

"Even though I pretty much shortened our time there by weeks," Will countered. Runo glared at him.

"Time-out, time-out," Lauren made a T with her hands. "What exactly did Will do?"

"Long story short," Will explained. "I joined the bad guys to help the good guys."

"He nearly took Drago," Dan whined.

"Once again," Leo came to Will's aid. "We have apologized. If we hadn't made it convincing, we would have been found out and possibly excommunicated."

"At the very least," Will added. "Anyways, I helped the bad guys so that I could ultimately end their tyranny on New Vestroia." He took out and displayed Trap Fortress, Hades, and the MAC Spider. "I also got these cool Mechanical Bakugan."

"You kept those?" Drago shouted. "Those are abominations!"

"They are no more abominations than Robotallion or Laserman were," Will argued.

"Laserman and Robotallion were naturally formed," Drago retorted. "Both having developed their armor from their own bodies. What you have in your hand are artificial, and deserve to be destroyed."

"Says who?" Will asked angrily.

"They were made by evil!" Drago shouted. "Therefore they must be destroyed!"

"So just because one was created evil does not mean they can overcome that evil?" Leo questioned. A red Bakugan hopped onto Amy's shoulder. In ball form, it had the torso of a Siege coming out of the top the way Nemus did.

"Clearly, those who are created by evil remain evil," A deep, clear voice resonated from Fima. "Therefore, those created in the Doom Dimension, a place of evil, could not have _possibly_ joined you against Naga and his forces." Somewhere in the back of his mind, Will registered the sarcasm.

"I didn't mean-" Drago started.

"No, no," Veron had hopped onto Sam's shoulder, a green Bakugan that looked almost identical to Leo's previous ball form, the one exception being the head of an eagle. Her voice was a soothing alto, despite concealing great anger. "We understand, Doom Beings are simply less than brawlers."

"Can't we all just get along?" A grating female voice came from Lauren's shoulder. The blue Bakugan on her shoulder had more than half the ball opened, thick white lines coiling diagonally, ending in a diamond shaped head pointed straight ahead. "We need to focus on the problem of keeping the energies safe."

"Agreed," Gorem's voice emanated from Julie's shoulder. "Perhaps if Julie, Runo, Tigrerra, and I remained here on Earth with the others, we would be safer from attack.

"Let's just hope we can all meet up before anything bad happens."

Baron watched helplessly as Nemus glowed a bright yellow before yellow energy exploded from the Bakugan. The energy spread out, throwing Dryoid back. Dryoid returned to ball form before the energy gathered above Nemus. It seemed to quaver before shooting directly into the air. Only when Nemus was in ball form and at Baron's feet did he realize he had fallen backwards. Baron looked forward to see Hydron's cloak rustle in the wind before disappearing in a flash of bright light.

"Baron," His little sister called out to him, rushing to his side. "Baron, are you alright?"

"Yeah," He answered reflexively. "I'm just not sure about Nemus." Unlike usual, the Bakugan did not snap open. Something was wrong with Nemus. Something was very wrong.

* * *

 _Let me know what you think in the reviews. Fav or follow if you want, I'm not gonna tell you what to do, just remember that I won't post as often as I had in the summer._


	18. Arc 2 Chapter 4

_Hey, sorry it took so long to update. I was really indecisive as to what I wanted to do with this chapter, so it's not as action-packed as some other ones. I figured it's better to take time and make sure the chapter is good, rather than quick._

* * *

"What do you mean?" Dan asked.

"He means that losing the energy did _something_ to Nemus," Ace answered angrily. "And I've got no idea how it could have happened."

"Maybe the Attribute Energy did more than just make him evolve," Shun offered.

"Will would probably know." Mira immediately regretted her words.

Before Ace could begin shouting, Marucho interjected, "Sam would be the better person to ask about energy, they'd often work together when faced with a problem."

"Lemme guess," Ace growled. "Former girlfriend?"

"No," Marucho answered.

"Can we agree that losing a battle is a bad idea?" Mira attempted to get back on task. The others nodded. "You said there's a second group, Shun?"

"Yes, their main goal is defense, so we can focus on taking the fight to the Vexos."

"Perfect," Mira said. "Baron, do you know where Hydron-"

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news," Marucho interrupted. "But it seems we have company." Mira turned to look out the mansion windows and saw a yellow-garbed figure across the stream that spans the mansion.

Will sat among the brawlers, listening as Runo and Julie recounted their battles in Vestroia. He never quite understood why they had sent Dan and Drago ahead, it seemed to just be making it harder on themselves. If they had stuck together, they would have defeated their opponents far easier. Besides, Will much prefered the story of when he and Amy saved Runo during the fight against Naga's forces.

" _Beta Barrier," Will threw the card, the flick of his wrist causing it to fall just in front of Leo's hands. A purple energy shield grew large enough to block Tigrerra's attacker. The Bakugan was an armored centaur, with a spear and cape. It seemed to be Darkus, having dark purple armor and light purple joints. However, its cape was red, and its face was yellow, pointing to some relation to Pyrus._

" _You dare to use Darkus against me?" The Bakugan laughed. "I am Centorrior, a master of Darkus and Pyrus!"_

" _I am Leonidas!" Leo roared. "Created from the souls of Darkus Bakugan trapped in the Doom Dimension, and their losses will not be in vain! You will not harm any more Bakugan!"_

" _Omicron Orb." Will tossed another card. It was time to see how this centaur fights._

" _Inferno Shield," The Bakugan bellowed, summoning a wall of flame, blocking the orb. "Vortex Dark Pyrus!" Centorrior raised his spear and fired both Darkus and Pyrus at Leo._

" _Fire Wall!" A very familiar female voice came from behind Will. Will looked back and saw Fima charging in to join the battle, Amy hopping down from his shoulder. "Mind if I join you?"_

" _I'm not stopping you," Will raised his hands in mock surrender. He flicked the card in his right hand. "Tau Twister." The card spun and flew to stop just above Leo's head. Will turned his attention back to the battle as Leo summoned a purple tornado of energy. Centorrior was slowly pulled into the wall of flame that blocked his attack. Amy threw a card at the wall of flame at the same time as Will threw a card at the tornado of energy._

" _Flaming Frenzy!"_

" _Epsilon Enhancer!" Will looked at Amy as she looked at him. He laughed nervously, tearing his eyes away from the stars embedded in Amy's eyes. This battle was either going to be really easy, or really hard._

 _It turned out to be the former, as Centorrior was quickly drawn into an inferno, which collapsed on him, turning him to ash. Will walked over to the pile once the flame had died down. The pile was about what he had expected, when compared to the size of the Bakugan. Upon further inspection, Will found a Bakugan-sized gem glinting in the pile. Pulling it out, he found that it was purple, and that a red one was on the other of the pile. Will grabbed it and returned to Amy's side._

" _Runo," Will called. Runo looked at him from next to Tigrerra. "Go find Dan, God knows he's gonna need your help." She nodded and hopped on Tigrerra's back. He turned to Amy. "Thanks for the help." Will tossed her the red gem. "That's for you." She gawked at the sapphire-shaped gem that now rested in her hands._

" _Will," Amy protested._

" _What?"_

" _This is a ruby." Will had forgotten that she knew almost everything about gems._

" _Looks like a sapphire to me."_

" _They're the same basic gem, just formed with different materials present."_

" _Is this a sapphire?" He held up the purple one. She grabbed it and held it close to her starry eye._

" _Maybe, I'd need to look at its structure a bit more to tell you." Amy looked at him with a question in her eyes._

" _So long as you give it back." She smiled and wrapped his arms around him, jumping up and down with joy. Will had also forgotten that she loved to study gems too._

"-Right, Will?" Amy's voice pulled him to the present.

"Hmm?" Will blinked a lot, looking around. She was holding the ruby and possible sapphire from Centorrior's ashes, standing in the center of the room. All eyes were on Will.

"I said: 'You pulled these from that hybrid's ashes, right Will?'" How did the conversation get there without him?

"Yeah," Will nodded. "And you said that you'd tell me if that purple one was a sapphire or not."

"I did," Amy smiled. "And it very much is, it's a flawless sapphire, and the other one turned out to be a flawless ruby."

"Damn," Will said. "Good find, weren't they." She tossed him the sapphire.

"I told you I'd give it back."

"Are you telling me that the hybrids had crystals inside them?" Julie asked from the couch.

"No," Sam answered. "It seems to me that the energy from inside the hybrid condensed into two gems, one of Pyrus, and one of Darkus." There seemed to be a hole.

"But why did it condense instead of expand?" Will asked. "It's more likely for the energy to have exploded rather than create flawless gems."

"It was the unique way in which you destroyed it that caused the energy to condense," Sam said. "From what Amy said, you disintegrated it by drawing it into flame, then surrounding and crushing it. Had you destroyed it in any other fashion, the energy would have expanded rapidly, most likely just breezing past you. You probably wouldn't even notice it. However, because you crushed it, the energy was forced into forming the gems."

"That's interesting, very interesting." Will would need to look into the physics of energy more.

Ace gritted her teeth as the mechanical monstrosity blasted Percival with yellow light from a double barrelled weapon on its arm. _Boriates Power Level 1-0-0-0 G's. Percival Power Level 3-0-0 G's._

"Double Ability," Ace yelled. "Blind Shield, plus Deathly Karbia!" _Percival Power Level 8-0-0 G's. Boriates Power Level 5-0-0 G's._ Percival shielded himself, blocking the energy. He then morphed into a swarm of bats, moving to the other side of the Mechanical Bakugan. Percival slashed at the Bakugan's back, causing it to spasm violently. The despicable creation froze very suddenly and returned to Volt's feet. _Volt Life Force: 80%_

"Gate Card, set!" Ace shouted. "Bakugan, Brawl! Let's go Percival!"

"Boriates, take 'em out!" This was not going to be easy.

Will walked into his room and took out the sapphire. It was as purple as he remembered it to be. What would happen if he…? Will pulled his Vexos gauntlet out of his bag and put the crystal on the scanner. A message showed up on the gauntlet:

 _Crystalline structure, identified as sapphire. Contains energy. Incalculable amount._

Incalculable? Normally his gauntlet used less difficult words to pronounce. This was quite interesting though. What could he do with something that held so much energy that an alien computer couldn't handle it? Will wasn't sure he knew, but time would tell what he'd use it for.

This fight was taking too long. Ace needed to kick Volt's ass so that she could screw over the rest of the Vexos, but Volt wasn't giving much ground. She looked at her gauntlet again. _Volt's life force is only at 20%,_ She thought. _I need to hit him hard and fast_.

"Bakugan Brawl!" She yelled. "Percival, Stand!" A quick ability combo'll do what she needed.

"Double Ability Activate!" Volt shouted. "Prometheus Cannon, plus Gun Durance!" _Boriates Power Level 1-0-0-0. Percival Power Level 1-5-0._

"Ability Activate! Blackout!" Purple mist shrouded the field, and Percival disappeared into the mist. The wrist gun on Boriates' cannon fired into the mist, being absorbed by it. _Percival Power Level 6-0-0. Boriates Power Level 7-0-0._ "Now, Geor Gunner, Ability Activate!" The mist was penetrated by the sound of Percival charging his lasers. The three beams of energy collided on Boriates' chest, returning it to ball form. _Volt Life Force: 0_. Finally.

* * *

 _Sorry again for taking so long to update, but with the craziness that's been happening this year, this was the best I could do over the past months. Thanks to the dedicated readers who make it all the way through. If you've enjoyed, leave a favorite, maybe follow._


	19. Arc 2 Chapter 5

**Hey guys, sorry for the lack of posts. I lost my muse and then I forgot about this for a while. Thank you all for understanding!**

Will woke to the sound of a knock on his door. Oh, please no.

"Who is it?" He asked, getting out of the bed.

"Sam." Will sighed in relief. Thank god it wasn't Amy. He pressed a couple buttons on the keypad right by the door. It hissed open and Sam stepped through quietly. Will closed the door again and walked over to the bed. They both sat on the edge and smiled at each other.

"Welcome home," Sam said.

"It's good to be back," He wrapped his arms around his best friend. She returned the gesture.

"What's wrong?" She whispered in his ear.

"What'd you mean?" Will pulled back.

"I haven't seen you like this since before you found Leo," She said. "You're… distant. Like you can't stay in the moment." His best friend was as perceptive as she always was.

"Of all people, you should know what's wrong."

"I noticed Runo, but why is she acting like that?"

"Didn't Amy tell you?" Sam shook her head. "She's mad at Dan for kissing Shun, but I'm the one she found out from so-"

"She's killing the messenger." Sam nodded.

"Exactly."

"Ugh, people can be so petty sometimes."

"I'll never understand it."

"The best we can do is deal with it together."

"Yeah, you're right."

"So what're we gonna do about Runo?" Will smiled at the word 'we'.

"Presently, nothing."

"Planning?"

"Yeah, let's see what we can come up with over a few days," Will waited before adding quickly. "And nothing beyond minor pranking, we don't want another Susannah."

"But Susannah only had minor damage to her kidney."

The pair laughed. Will definitely needed to.

7 am. Sounds like a reasonable time to get breakfast without attracting attention. Sam left him to "sleep" at around 11 last night, but of course Will couldn't sleep. He also couldn't leave his room to go work on anything, Sam was both next door and a very light sleeper. Lauren once told him that a light breeze had woken Sam up. He wasn't sure if it was real or just one of Lauren's many hyperboles.

Will crept down the hall in his jeans and purple polo. The doors on his left reflected the morning light from the windows on his right. He felt someone coming up behind him and reach out to tap his shoulder.

"Sam, you know-" Will stopped short when he turned and saw who was reaching out.

"Mmm, try again," Amy said. Shit. She cocked her head and looked him up and down. "Didn't you wear that yesterday?" Shit.

"I- uh- um." Will had no idea how to vocalize his thoughts.

"Oh, you do that daily uniform thing, right? Like Steve Jobs." Did Amy really have to use a dead example?

"Can we not do this in front of Runo's room?" Will asked. "She's in the mood to use anything she can against me."

"What? Do you really think she's gonna use an early morning conversation to shame you?"

"Maybe." Something outside caught Will's eye. "What the hell is…?" Something blue and something green were approaching the mansion. "Amy, grab your cards and Fima, then meet me outside." She nodded and they took off to their respective rooms. It was time to get his gear.

"Well well, what have we here?" Will heard Mylene. Amy must already be out there.

"Looks like we got a little girl trying to be a brawler." Lync's hyena laugh boiled Will's blood as he arrived at the doors.

"Do you seriously believe you can take us alone?"

"She's not alone." Will's voice preceded him through the double doors. He saw Lync take a step back and Mylene flinched. Maybe it was a little over the top to throw on his black leather jacket, but damn did it feel good. "What's the matter? Expecting Runo or Julie?"

"Kinda," Lync whimpered.

"Fool." Mylene hit his shoulder. "We'll win anyway."

"We'll see about that," Will smirked. He looked over at Amy to see that she had taken the gauntlet Mira gave Runo. She definitely had foresight. Will hoped she'd have it in her to win.

"Gauntlet, power strike!" They all yelled.

Matter swirled around them as the four were transported to some type of mesa with pillars of rock. Will looked around and saw a crater only a few yards away. He knew where they were.

"Where exactly are we?" Amy asked.

"The only place to battle," Will said.

"Vestroia." Amy did a 360. "Rather underwhelming."

"Eh, it's not all like this." Will pulled out a Darkus Reactor Gate card. "Shall we?"

"Don't let me stop you."

"Gate Card, set." They were both going to want to try out their new toys, so it'd be a good idea to play defensively with the MAC Spider and let Amy and Fima do some damage. "Bakugan, brawl. MAC Spider stand." The mechanical spider was unimpressive from his current viewpoint, seeing only the abdomen and legs, but he was sure it looked intimidating from the front. He glared at Mylene. Well, if he glared at Lync there wouldn't be a battle, that or it'll take too long. Will wasn't going to take that chance.

Will was oddly monotone. Amy looked between the Mechanical Bakugan and Will.

"Mechanical Bakugan, Mechanical Bakugan, Mechanical Bakugn, Mechnicl," She said under her breath. Apparently she couldn't say that five times fast. Oh well. Amy looked over at Will, she just couldn't figure out what was off about him. His hands were clasped behind his back, his eyes were fixed on the one in blue. He had put on a black leather jacket and a black and purple gauntlet. Will was… not there. Amy didn't know where, but he wasn't standing right next to her, not really.

"Macubass, Stand!" Amy looked back at their opponents. One in green, one in blue. The green one was standing slightly behind the blue one. The blue one was holding Will's gaze, but something was… her arm. Her arms were crossed, but the black/blue gauntlet was on the top arm, facing straight up, tray open. Her lips moved and the green one scooted out from behind her.

"Bakugan, Stand!" The high-pitched voice came from the green one. "Aluze!"

"Bakugan, Brawl!" Amy rolled Fima onto the card. "Let's go Fima!" Fima was completely out of place among the mechanical Bakugan, but that made him unique.

"Let me at them, Will," Leo growled. "I'm itchin for a fight."

"In a minute, Leo," Will said. "I need to know what they can do first."

"Fine." Leo turned to watch the fight and hovered above Will's shoulder.

"Ability Activate!" Mylene yelled. "Saber Barracuda!" _Macubass Power Level 1-0-0-0._ Glowing blades extended from the jet shaped Bakugan's arms and it charged. Not today, thanks.

"Ability activate," Will said. "Spider net." _Macubass Power Level 7-0-0._ MAC Spider jumped and released a glowing purple net from its abdomen. Macubass staggered and took a step back. It sliced open the net and charged again.

"Dora Cannon!" The green one shouted. What, was that a cannon that teaches Spanish? _Aluze Power Level 1-1-0-0._ Aluze began firing green bolts from its underside. Okay, so it wasn't.

"Ability Activate!" Amy yelled. "Fire Wall!" _Aluze Power Level 7-0-0. Fimanidas Power Level 7-5-0._ Fima raised his staff and slammed it on the ground, creating a wall of flame. Not bad, it blocked both attacks.

Not a bad move by Amy. It wasn't extremely artistic, but it worked.

"Nice," Will said.

"Thanks," Amy replied. "But I'm not done yet." She put two cards into the tray. "Double Ability Activate! Hellfire plus Fusion ability: Flaming Frenzy!" _Fimanidas Power Level 9-5-0. Aluze Power Level 5-0-0. Macubass Power Level 5-0-0. MAC Spider Power Level 5-0-0._ Will had to admit it, he wasn't expecting any of that. Fima glowed red and raised his arm to the fire, which blazed out of control, hitting every Bakugan on the field. Metallic screeches sounded from all Bakugan except Fima. Macubass and Aluze returned to ball form at their owners' feet.

"Wow." Will mouthed. He caught the MAC Spider and saw Amy smirk. He felt a stupid smile come to his face as he looked at her. He quickly put his poker face back on and looked at the Vexos.

Hmm, the traitor smiled. Mylene had never seen him do that. Not during a battle. He was always in control of himself until the very end. What was he… The girl. Whoever she was, she was a liability to him.

"Lync," Mylene said. "We have to take out the girl, and quickly if we want to win."

"What about him?"

She nodded in the direction of the girl. "He smiled at her."

Lync's mouth slowly formed a smirk. "Well then, let's see how he feels without her by his side." He pulled out a Pyrus Spotting Out gate card. They turned to face their opponents and Lync yelled, "Gate Card, Set!"

Mylene smiled deviously. Oh yes, this would be easy.

There was a crafty look on Lync's face as Aluze rose. They were planning something, but he didn't know what yet. That was a problem. Mylene and Lync were at 70 and 60 percent Life Force, respectively. It was too early for Leo.

"Let me at them, Will," Leo growled.

"Not yet."

Leo glowed with a purple energy. "I need to fight."

"We want to surprise them, Leo."

"They won't be expecting my evolution?"

"Not if I'm right."

"And if you're not?" Amy cut in. Will looked at her incredulously. She shrugged. "They've had to have fought someone else with an evolved Bakugan before."

"She has a point, Will."

"Leo, you know what I'm can do," Will said.

"And that's the problem." Will looked at his partner. How could he say something like that?

"Look, I'm going to use Hades to draw their attention so that Fima can do some serious damage again."

"Isn't that what we just did?" Amy asked.

"They won't be expecting the same move twice."

"Fair point."

"Hey!" Lync yelled. "Are we gonna get this show on the road or what?"

"My, someone's impatient," Will said.

"Maybe we should give him a real show," Amy said.

"My thoughts exactly." Will grabbed Hades from his pocket. "Bakugan, brawl."

Lync shuddered as Hades rose, remembering what Shadow had been able to do with that thing. What would someone like Will be able to do with it? Maybe he should focus more on Will's presence. Mylene put Macubass on the field, and then that girl, whatever her name is, put her whatever the hell it is on the field. Lync's turn.

"Gate card, open!" Lync yelled. "Pyrus Spotting Out!"

 _Fimanidas Power Level 1-5-0._ Oh, hell no.

"Double Ability Activate!" Amy yelled. "Fire staff, plus Fusion Ability Flaming Frenzy!" That'll even the odds. _Fimanidas Power Level 6-0-0._ Not quite returning him to the right level, but it'll do. Fima charged at Macubass with his staff engulfed in flames.

"Little help here?"

"Of course." Time for Mylene to get the hell out of here. "Ability activate, Phaser Trident." Hades opened his mouths and fired pinkish energy directly at Macubass. _Macubass Power Level 4-0-0._

"Ability Activate!" Mylene yelled. "ABSIDS!"

"What the hell is an ABSID?" Amy asked. Tiny blue parts of the wings on Macubass came off of the back and flew around, firing many tiny lasers at Fima and Hades. _Macubass Power Level 8-0-0. Fimanidas Power Level 2-0-0. Hades Power Level 2-0-0._

"That, apparently." Will looked at his cards. Damn it, only one thing would let them get rid of the Macubass. "Ability, activate, Saurer Cannon!" Hades opened his midsection, and every other conceivable place to hide a cannon to fire at Macubass. _Hades Power Level 1-1-0-0._ Say goodbye to your Life Force, Mylene.

"Ability Activate!" Lync yelled. "Dora Cannon!"

Not this shit again. Amy felt a card grow heavy in her pocket. She pulled it out to see it had some kind of red and black aura that reminded her of something, but she couldn't remember what. She read the card and slid it into the gauntlet.

"Doom Dimension Ability, Activate!" Amy yelled. "Delta Drain!"

Will stared at Fima as he pointed his staff at Aluze. Fima yelled, firing a dark red beam at the Mechanical Bakugan's underside. The Mechanical Bakugan screeched and immediately turned into ball form. _Fimanidas Power Level 5-0-0._ The ability didn't even take full effect. Hades finally fired his cannons and Macubass didn't make a sound as it returned to Mylene's feet. Will caught Hades and looked at Amy incredulously.

"Where the hell did you get that card?"

"It just kinda felt heavier than the other cards, so I looked at it and decided to use it."

"Be careful with that kind of card, nobody knows exactly how they work."

"Kinda like French Truffles?"

Will laughed, "Yes, like French Truffles."

Mylene couldn't believe it. No, she could, but it was that numb skull's fault. If he had just stuck to the plan and taken out that girl, this would have been so much easier. Now both Mylene and the idiot had 30 Life Force.

"Lync, I'll take care of the girl, you keep the traitor busy."

"I'll do my best."

"Just have your stupid Bakugan draw his attention."

"Okay."

"Gate Card, Set!" The girl yelled. "Fima, let's go!"

This would be interesting.

Mylene was staring him down again. Will stared back as she threw her Bakugan onto the field.

He asked calmly, "Ready Leo?"

"Born ready."

"Bakugan," Will held his right hand open and Leo flew into it. "Brawl!" He threw Leo onto the field and noticed, with more than a little pride, that Mylene broke his gaze first.

Leo rose, flipping once before landing on his feet and roaring, "Omega Leonidas!" Will wished he had a better view of his partner, but there was no doubt in Will's mind that Leo looked badass.

"Holy shit!" Amy almost couldn't believe that was Leo. He had spikes and horns and claws _everywhere_. He even had horns for eyebrows. Now that was impressive. Leo's entire body was a killing machine.

Mylene tried not to gasp at the monstrosity before her. She heard Lync scream, but couldn't find it in her to roll her eyes. What was that monstrosity going to do? What was it capable of? Mylene had no idea.

Leo was glowing. Will didn't quite understand what the glow was doing, but it seemed to transfix Mylene, cause Lync to panic, and Amy to gawk. Very interesting, he'd have to look into that.

"Lync?" Will asked. He waved to get his attention. "Your move."

"No mercy, huh?" Amy tore her eyes away from Leo. Will shrugged.

The traitor thought he was so great didn't he? Maybe he needed to be taken down a notch. Mylene smiled as a thought came to her. If she couldn't beat him in a brawl, perhaps a different battlefield is required.

"You know, Will." Mylene said. "You really had me fooled."

He cocked his head at her. Good.

"When you joined us, I was skeptical at first, but after you helped capture the Resistance, well, it became clear whose side you were really on."

"I'm told I'm good at that," He said.

"Yes, you are very good at deceiving people aren't you?"

"He certainly had me fooled," Lync said. "Bakugan, Brawl! Aluze!"

"Ability Activate!" The girl yelled. "Fire Staff!" _Fimanidas Power Level 7-5-0._

Fima charged at Aluze, jumping at the Mechanical Bakugan's underside. What game was Mylene playing? Whatever, focus on the task at hand.

"Bakugan Brawl, go Macubass!" Now Mylene will play some kind of subtraction card. Will reached into his pack and felt a weird card. He pulled it out and had to do a double-take. It was only purple on the left half. The other half had no color.

"Ability Activate!" Mylene pulled him back into reality. "Hunter Whip!" _Fimanidas Power Level 5-5-0._ No time for the weird card. Will put it into his pocket and pulled out a different card. Macubass created a whip and began to swing it at Fima.

"Ability Activate," Will said. "Kappa Crusher." _Fimanidas Power Level 7-5-0._ Leo flew into the Mechanical Bakugan's whip, crushing it in his hands. Fima struck at the underbelly cannon, but Aluze looped up and away from Fima. Damn, not enough power. Fima landed on his feet back on the ground.

"Ability Activate!" Lync yelled. "Dora Cannon!" _Aluze Power Level 1-1-0-0._ Shit. Aluze fired green bolts from the sky, raining down on the Bakugan.

"Psi Shield!" Will slid the card into his gauntlet. Leo flew next to Fima and created a purple energy dome around them both. _Leonidas Power Level 8-5-0. Aluze Power Level 7-0-0._

"Ability Activate!" Mylene shouted. "Saber Barracuda!" _Macubass Power Level 1-0-0-0._ A blue blade extended from each wrist of the Bakugan and it slashed through Leo's shield.

"Double Ability Activate!" Amy yelled from right next to him. "Fire Wall plus Fire Staff!" _Fimanidas Power Level 9-5-0. Macubass Power Level 9-5-0._ Fima twirled his staff around and made a wall of fire in front of Leo, blocking the sabers before they could hit him.

"Okay, since you bought us some time." Will took out his half card and looked at Amy. "Do you have one of these?"

Amy looked in her pack before pulling a half red one out. In each other's presence, the cards filled in with the color of the opposite card, making half Darkus, half Pyrus abilities. A name ran across the cards now.

"Fiend Fire," Amy said. "I'll try it if you do." Will nodded and set the card in the gauntlet. It slid into the activation slot at the same time as Amy's. The words of what to say came to him almost instinctively.

"Combination Ability Activate!" they shouted. "Fiend Fire!" _Macubass Power Level 6-5-0. Aluze Power Level 4-0-0._ Leo gathered and blasted darkness into the fire from his maw. The swirling fire and darkness took a mind of its own and raged into Macubass, immediately returning the Mechanical Bakugan to ball form at Mylene's feet. _Mylene Life Force 0._

"Ability Activate!" Lync yelled. "Giga Armor!" _Aluze Power Level 7-0-0. Fimanidas Power Level 6-5-0._ It saved his Bakugan from being taken. The fiery and dark mass slammed into Aluze's underside, returning him to Lync's feet. _Lync Life Force 0_.

Will caught Leo and let him float. "Dude! What was that?"

"I…" Leo trailed off a bit. "I have no idea."

"We have got to try that again."

"Not… not today."

"Leo you're exhausted."

"I guess I'm out of practice." Will looked over at Amy. She was very intrigued by the red ball in her hands. Will noticed that they were back at the mansion, and that their enemy had vanished.

"Take 5 Leo."

"Gladly." Will felt something small snuggle into his jacket pocket. He walked over to Amy and stepped next to her.

"Is he okay?" She looked at him, her blue eyes full of concern.

"I-I-" Amy shook her head. Fima was still in a ball.

"Let's bring him up to my room."

Amy nodded.

They sat at Will's desk, examining Fima, Leo and these "Combination Cards". They didn't do anything at the moment, and that made Will more uneasy than before. He put his gauntlet on the desk Fima on the gauntlet's scanner.

"Holy shit," Will said. "I've never seen anything like this." He showed her the gauntlet

"So..." Amy had regained some of her composure. "So those cards…"

"I'd guess that they're some kind of Doom Dimension thing, like the Doom Dimension abilities. Maybe channeling Doom Dimension energies too much can cause some… side effects." He felt her shaking beside him. Will looked over and saw tears beginning to form in her eyes. He gently put his arms around her as she cried into his shoulder. Will closed his eyes as he sank into the hug.

The door on the other side of the room hissed open and Will slowly opened his eyes, trying not to disturb Amy. Sam slipped into the room and closed the door. She walked over to the pair and put a hand on Amy's shoulder, rubbing it comfortingly. Sam gave Will a confused look. He gestured to his gauntlet with his eyes. She looked over and her lips turned downward. Sam knew.

"Amy," Veronidas said in her soothing alto. "We're here for you, we'll help you get through this."

"Ver," Sam whispered harshly. "I was gonna say that." Amy snorted a little bit.

"Maybe I can bring him with me and see if I can do anything for him," Leo said.

"You're gonna put him in the fridge, aren't you?" Will asked.

"Maybe…" He felt Amy shake into his shoulder. Will couldn't tell if she was crying or laughing. He hoped it was the latter.


End file.
